Freak Fest
by The Wolf Who Walks Alone
Summary: Max is the main attraction of a theme park displaying mutants like animals. All that she wants is some company. That's when Fang, a mutant fighting champion comes along; Max's prearranged 'mate'. Will they succumb to 'fate' or will they clash instead? FAX
1. Welcome to the Freak Fest

**What's up everyone? I wrote a few ways for this chapter to start off, but I finally decided to do it this way. Well, you know what to do, read and review!**

**Disclaimer: Seriously, If I owned Maximum Ride, I wouldn't be skipping school to write this!**

**Chapter One : Welcome to the Freak Fest**

Thunderous applause shook the domed building. The audience, which was seated along the back edge of the auditorium, then grew quiet.

The security guards stationed at every entrance and exit locked the doors and stood in front of them, making sure that no one else got in, and more importantly, that no one got out.

"And now, Freak Festival Amusement Park is pleased to bring you the amazing, indestructible, one-of-a-kind, beautiful, and the star of the show, Maximum Ride!" the cheerful announcer said over the loudspeakers. More cheering erupted in the crowd.

The audience went dead silent again as a girl who appeared to be fifteen walked on to the stage. She was pretty, but appeared to be normal otherwise. In her 'Come to the Freak Fest!' T-shirt and comfortable worn jeans, she stood in the center of the stage, her expression blank, lifeless, as if she were under some sort of trance. Her straight brown and blond hair laid on her head, perfectly in place. She wore minimal makeup, but was beautiful all the same. Her brown eyes stared straight ahead, staring off at a distant, faraway, place.

There was muffled coughs and hushed whispering in the audience now.

"Is this some kind of joke?" someone scoffed loudly in the large audience. "Yeah, I want my money back! I came to see…" another began, but stopped short.

A woman with dark brown hair pulled back in a slick ponytail and brown eyes much like Max's walked on to the stage now. Around her neck was a slim silver whistle like the ones that seal and dolphin trainers wear. She wore a long white lab coat.

The woman blew the whistle and the pretty girl at the front of the stage shifted on her feet. The audience gasped in astonishment.

The girl had opened her _wings_. Her wings were white at the top and brown at the tips and were even more breathtaking that she was. With an eight foot wingspan, she took up over half the stage.

The spotlight shown down on the girl. The woman in the lab coat blew the whistle for two short tweets and Max ran toward the audience. The people in the audience screamed and cried out in alarm even though there was an invisible electric current protecting them from the performers.

Max swooped and preformed various difficult, daredevil tricks in the air.

"Hello everyone, I am Dr. Martinez; Max's trainer. And I think that you know that this," Dr. Martinez paused as Max swooped as close to the audience as close as the electric barrier would allow. The spectators gasped and snapped pictures of Max with their cameras and cell phones.

Max smiled brightly and continued to zoom around the stadium, the spotlight reflecting off of her magnificent wings.

"This is Maximum Ride!" Dr. Martinez finished as Max narrowly soared in corkscrews. Cameras flashed.

Dr. Martinez blew the whistle in four short notes and Max obediently flew down and gracefully landed next to Dr. Martinez. Max let her wings out loosely, so that the audience could still see her amazing wings. After all, that is what they were there for.

"Max may look like she can't lift much, but she is able to lift over one hundred and fifty pounds!" Dr. Martinez exclaimed. A golf cart loaded with weights chugged on to the stage, driven by a Freak Fest employee. He parked the car by Max and hurried backstage.

Dr. Martinez blew one short and two long notes on her whistle and Max reached down to the golf cart. Without a word or even a grunt, she lifted the heavy golf cart above her head.

"Max cannot understand English, since she is not human, as you might have noticed." Dr. Martinez said. The audience chuckled. "Max understands what the whistle means, but communicates with chirps, like a bird."

Dr. Martinez clicked a button on a remote that she had in her pocket and the chirping of a robin echoed through the building on a loudspeaker. Max's ears peked up and she whistled back in a series of chirps and whistles. This happened a few more times with various types of bird calls over the loudspeakers and Max replying with various chirps and whistles.

gave various facts about Max, like her anatomy and her habits and features that made her un-human and Max displayed them for the audience to see. The audience watched quietly; fascinated.

Finally, Dr. Martinez tweeted the whistle six times and Max took off to the air to do her final, gravity defying tricks that she had been taught. The audience fawned over her more as they took her picture. "Max! Max! Max!" they chanted. Max hovered over the stage and waved to the spectators. The spectaters cheered and the children in the audience waved back. Max blew kisses as the audience left.

"Be sure to buy Maximum Ride suvineers in the gift shop and come back to see Maximum Ride soon!" A cheerful recording said over the loudspeakers.

After the last of the audience left through the doors, Max landed and pulled her wings in through the slits in her T-shirt.

"Good Max. You did great! I'll make sure that you get extra food rations tonight." Dr. Martinez said softly. Max looked at Dr. Martinez uncomprehendingly. She didn't understand anything that Dr. Martinez said, but knew that the tone of her voice that she was pleased. Dr. Martiez then waved in two burly guards. One of them, was Ari. Ari was the head of 'creature discipline and security' meaning that he could beat Max and the other mutant creatures featured at Freak Fest amusement park whenever he wanted to.

Max bared her teeth at Ari. She hated him. He liket to beat her especially. It was one of his hobbies.

"Not You. Can't you send some other beefy blockhead to escort Max back to the Aviatory?" Dr. Martinez said flatly. Ari grinned dryly.

"It's not like she cares. She's too stupid to know her own name. Aren't you?" Ari sneered at Max. She snapped her teeth in his direction, growling softly.

"See? She's just another stupid animal. And be careful what you say to me Ms. Martinez, or my father could have you scooping crap instead." Ari finished.

Dr. Martinez clipped the handcuffs on Max's wrists. They would give her a jolt of one thousand volts if she tried to escape.

Max's blank, uncomprehending stare turned into what appeared to be a look of loathing.

Max hated it here. She hated it all. She couldn't understand anything or anyone. Why was she treated this way. After a few brutal beatings, she did everything that they asked of her. She did tricks, let the other 'whitecoats' or people in the white lab coats that worked there take her feathers to make souvenirs for the tourists.

What had she done to dserve this? Max was led down a few hallways and then was shoved into the Aviatory.

The Aviatory was a large, Plexiglas dome that was too thick for Max to break and escape, but it was crystal clear and Max could see the clear blue sky. The dome reached up really high so that Max could fly around. There was real grass, trees, a pool of water, even a waterfall. Along the outside edge of the dome was a hallway where tourists could look through and peer at Max whenever she was in there, except until after closing time. Even now, tourists tapped on the glass, competing for Max's attention so they could snap her picture. Ari took off Max's handcuffs and roughly shoved her out into the Aviatory.

Since Max was the star of the show, she got a huge enclosure, and even mare food. She got the most attention. But she was miserable, because she was always alone. There were no other bird-kid mutants in the park. There were packs of human-wolf hybrids, there were aquatic, mutants, and even stranger things.

But there was always more than one of them. Even though this place was more awful for them, they were never alone. Mx had seen two children with scales huddled together as she was brusquely 'escorted' past their exibit. They had a tiny enclosure, and were dirty, but they had each other. One was a girl, like she was, but another was a male.

She wanted company, more than anything, even if it meant her getting less food, a smaller enclosure, no show, and getting beat by Ari every day.

Her bare feet ran across the cool, green grass as she took off into the air. There were blinding camera flashes coming from the tourists spying on her, but she was used to it. She flew to the top of her favorite tree and laid back staring at strange metal things and birds gliding across the sky, free.

Free to do what they wanted whenever they wanted. Max hoped that one day, the amusement Park would finally be finished with her and wouldn't need her anymore, then set her free. Then she could be a tourist visiting everywhere, whenever she wanted.

The idea was thrilling to her. She fell asleep, waiting for the day that would never come.

She didn't know that at least one of her wishes was about to come true, but for all the wrong reasons. Greedy, lustful reasons. Max's life as the star of the show was about to be rocked to pieces.

**So, yeah. Review or I won't update. It will get better, let mme tell you. Who knows, maybe Fang will show up in the next chapter. Only then can we have some REAL fax! REVIEW! **


	2. The Master Plan

**What's up guys? Anyways, here's chapter two. I was absolutely THRILLED to see how many reviews/ story alerts that I got! Let's just say that this chapter will be better than it's predecessor! **

**Disclaimer: Max Ride+ Me as author= big freaking no. It's simple math.**

**Chapter 2: The Master Plan**

Doctor Martinez hung up her white coat, which was part of her uniform that she was required to wear at the Freak Fest amusement park. She then walked over to the monitoring screen that showed a live video feed of the Aviatory.

The screen was split in four ways. One showed the whole Aviatory from the top of the waterfall. Another showed the whole length of the wall where the tourists would look through. The third camera looked down from the Aviatory's clear, six inch thick Plexiglas domed ceiling. The last camera showed Max's 'nest'. Technically, Max didn't build nests, she just slept in trees. The humorous employees had dubbed the tree that Max always slept in as her 'nest'.

They thought that Max was just a dumb bird in a human skin, but Dr. M knew that Max was much more than that. She was positive that Max was intelligent, as smart as a human, if not smarter. If only she could understand what all of those cheeps and twitters that Max sang, then she would prove all of those employees wrong.

Then Max could get some actual respect around here. The only reason that she was treated by the loosest definition of 'good' was because she was the star icon of the freak fest amusement park.

She was the park's Shamu; she was the park's Mickey Mouse. The Park sold Maximum Ride T-shirts, stuffed animals, key chains with her feathers; which by the way, Dr. M hated. She could tell by Max's angry, hurt cries that it hurt when they plucked a bunch of her fathers out to make key chains and necklaces. Coffee mugs, videos, CDs, works of art, high resolution pictures, commerative coins, everything around here was centered around Max, and she didn't even understand what that meant.

Dr. Martinez was Max's trainer/vet/caretaker. At least, that is what it said in her job description. She was a single mother with a daughter that was only three years old. She needed a job desperately and she was qualified for the job. The job paid well. What she didn't expect was to fall in love with this strange, winged girl. Max was like her adopted daughter. It took well over a year for Max to fully trust Dr. Martinez, but after a lot of hard work, Max finally did.

At four years old, with a lot of patience and perseverance, Max performed her first show. The thunderous applause shook the building fr the first time, and Dr. Martinez swore that Max loved it. It was strange that Max was only a year older than Ella. It was like Dr. Martinez had two daughters instead of one. Except, one was safely at home while the other was confined to life in a cage, no matter how 'big' that cage happened to be.

Max slept soundlessly in the highest limbs of the tallest tree in the Aviatory. Doctor Martinez watched Max sleep and wished that she could help Max more.

Then, the office phone rang. Dr. Martinez walked over and answered it.

"Yes sir, I'll be there momentarily." Dr. Martinez said as she hung up the phone and left the room.

"Good night, Max. I'll see you in the morning." Dr. Martinez whispered as she locked the room behind her.

"So, Dr. Valencia Martinez, do you know why I brought you here?"

"Uh, No sir. You didn't exactly say why over the phone." Dr. Martinez said flatly.

"I called you to my office because you are the only trainer and caretaker of Max and I figured that you should be the first of my employees to know if any changes were to be made concerning her." The man said. He looked at Dr. Martinez from behind his expensive imported desk decorated only by a single trinket from the Freak Fest main gift shop; and of course the expensive plate bearing his name, Jeb Batchelder. It was a Maximum Ride bobble-head toy with little plastic wings that flapped.

The man stared at Dr. Martinez with cold, dark blue eyes. He wore a pair of expensive glasses and had sandy blond hair. In expensive Cuban cigar hung halfway out of his mouth. The cigar's strong scent filled the room and Dr. Martinez did her best to not cough at the odor.

"Mr. Batchelder, what changes are you referring to?" Dr. Martinez said. She silently prayed that she wasn't going to be fired. She needed this job. She needed this job; for the sake of Ella and Max. If Dr. Martinez was replaced by another trainer, Max wouldn't trust the trainer and she wouldn't perform the shows. If Max didn't perform the shows, Ari and a few of his thugs would 'knock some sense' or 'punish' Max or worse… they could kill her.

"Just the other morning, I was counting the week's profits and factoring in the bills and realized something that may shock you." Jeb said as he tapped the butt of the cigar into the trashcan.

_Please don't fire me. Please don't fire me. Please…_ Dr. Martinez thought frantically as Jeb paused to re-light his cigar.

"I saw that the Maximum Ride show was not making as much money as I thought. In fact," Jeb started. Dr. Martinez silently held her breath. "Max's show is not quite as popular as it was a few years ago. I think that the show needs… something else. Something, new, fresh, something that will draw the crowds in."

"I could create a new routine." Dr. Martinez said like it wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately, it was. It would be extremely difficult to teach Max a new routine, but if it kept them both safe, then it was worth it.

"You will have to, but I have something bigger and more dramatic in mind." Jeb continued, revealing nothing. He then reached into one of the drawers of his desk and puled something else, two things actually. One, was a newspaper, which he set carefully on the desk. The other thing was a second bobble-head Maximum Ride doll, which he put next to the other Maximum Ride bobble-head.

Dr. Martinez was puzzled. Had the fame and fortune finally gotten to Jeb? Was the pressure of owning the whole Freak Fest amusement park finally making him crack? A newspaper? A second bobble-head exactly like the other one… A second Maximum Ride bobble-head… a second Max.

Jeb's expression revealed nothing as he gazed at Dr. Martinez to see how she reacted to this. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to spell everything out for her.

Dr. Martinez's deep brown eyes widened. She understood.

"But… but…" she stuttered. She was speechless. Jeb smiled.

"There is nothing that pleases crowds more than babies. A baby Maximum Ride… the crowds would be miles long!" Jeb said grandly.

"But Max is just a child herself! You can't seriously expect…" Dr. Martinez protested, but Jeb cut her off.

"I can, and _do_ expect her to do it. Dr. Martinez, Max is not a human, thus, her permanent presence here in this park. I pay for her food, her medical, her everything. I _own_ Maximum Ride. She is worth billions of dollars now. We both know that she is of age to bear young, and if I want her to breed, then she _will_ breed." Jeb said in a deadly calm voice. Dr. Martinez shook her head. Max was more human that Jeb ever dreamed of. The only thing that he saw her as was a winged ATM. If she argued much more, she'd be fired and replaced.

"How do you expect to find another Avian-Human hybrid? If you've forgotten, Mr. Batchelder, Max is so special because she is the only one of her kind. Where in the world are you going to find another, a male especially? The School that created this surplus of mutants is long gone. When the government busted it about a decade ago, you made sure to see every mutant that was apprehended by the government and you made sure to buy the… profitable ones. There were _no_ bird kids." Dr. Martinez said.

She had thought that she had won. There was no possible way on earth that he could find a male bird-kid. The School was gone, and there are no other Schools. No more mutants.

Much to Dr. Martinez's surprise, Jeb only smiled with a knowing/smug smile as he gestured to the newspaper. The headline read,

_Emergency Landing Causes Destruction Of Nursing Home_

Well, wasn't that a pleasant headline. Dr. Martinez raised her eyebrow at Jeb. Where was he going with this?

Jeb pointed to the ad column. There wasn't really going to be an 'Avian-Human for Sale' ad, or would there be? Dr. Martinez scrolled down the list until her eye was caught by a picture. The ad next to the picture said 'Mutant Fight Ring Liquidation: Everything Must Go!' The address of the place was below the headline and the date and time of the auction.

Mutant Fight Ring? Was there really such a thing? The picture astounded her though. It was definitely not phony, it was indeed, real. It was really possible then. Dr. Martinez didn't know how, but she knew that there was nothing that she could do now.

The picture showed a boy, about fifteen, the same age as Max, with a vicious snarl on his ruggedly handsome face. He was definitely underfed, but that wasn't the main part of the picture. The boy, who had shaggy, longish, ash black hair and eyes the color of obsidian, had two, large, beautiful black wings fully extended to their full fifteen feet wingspan. Max wasn't alone.

The sharp, harsh chime of the fight bell rang throughout the darkness. Then, the door opened and the boy lunged out into the dim light. He was in the kill ring again.

The jeers and shouts of drunken and drugged up men echoed through the small space. The metal fence protected the spectators and gamblers from getting too close to the fighters. Some of the mutant fighters were too bloodthirsty to be near anyone. The boy in the ring was one of those bloodthirsty mutants.

He snarled at his opponent, a half wolf-half man hybrid, nicknamed 'Erasers' around here.

The booming, static-marred voice of the announcer blared through the speakers.

"Now we have Chomper, our half-wolf-half-man werewolf beast!" The announcer shouted into the microphone. Some of the crowd cheered. The rest remained somewhat quiet or jeered at the wolf-man.

"In the same ring, we also have our champion, the viscous, atrocious, bloodthirsty and monstrous Avian-Human hybrid, _Fang_!" the announcer cried even louder. The crowd's cheer was now a deafening roar.

'Fang', the Human-Avian hybrid, hissed at the loud noise. It always made his ultra-sound sensitive ears throb painfully.

The Erasers growled at Fang.

Fang hissed and stretched his wings out tauntingly.

The ring was a fifteen foot in diameter. It was, in fact, a ring, not a square. The spectators stood a good yard away from the fence. There was a railing where the spectators stood to keep the paying onlookers from getting fried by the electric fence.

The cheap industrial light in the ring flickered.

Finally, the Eraser grew impatient and charged at Fang. Fang immediately retracted his wings against his bare back.

In one swift move, he leaped over the Eraser. The Eraser couldn't stop in time to not hit the electric fence. There was a loud zapping noise and the scent of burnt hair wafted through the room. The Eraser fell over.

Fang sprinted over to the Eraser. The rule in the ring was 'kill or be killed, because only one comes out alive.' That was the only rule there, and Fang learned that rule the hard way. Granted, he didn't die for his mistake, but he came close to it.

He made sure that he would never lose. He never did, not once in his fifteen years of life. Today would be no different.

The Eraser twitched and violently convulsed on the bloodstained, bare concrete floor. Fang grabbed the Eraser's monstrous head, which was probably twice the size of his own head. He put his knees down on the bare concrete floor, just about to snap the Eraser's neck in half for a clean, painless kill.

Fang didn't like to leave his opponent to suffer, only if he really, really hated them. The sooner that the opponent was dead, the better. Then the owner might even feed him, if it was an entertaining fight.

Then, the Eraser's hand swiped at Fang. The Eraser's claws raked across Fang's bare, muscled chest. Fang leapt back, growling ferociously.

Fang's own hot blood dripped down his chest. Fang swung a roundhouse kick at the Eraser and the Eraser's breath left him in a great 'whoosh'. The Eraser grunted and stepped back a few feet.

Uppercut, jab, blow to the side of the head, swipe at the legs, double-legged kick, and finally, as the Eraser fell to the ground, unconscious, Fang spread his wings and flew up in the air ten, fifteen feet to the roof.

The electric fence reached all the way to the roof, so Fang had to be careful to avoid the deadly fence. It was lined with barb-wire at the roof.

In a death drop, Fang pulled his wings in and plummeted, feet first, to the ground. Fang landed, right on the Eraser.

With a satisfying crack, Fang knew that the Eraser's spine was broken on impact. The Eraser never moved again.

The crowd roared in approval. The Eraser had blood pouring out of its mouth. Fang's blood was also pouring from his own wounds.

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the fight.

"What a magnificent last blow! Everyone, look at the replay on the screen, just look at that death-drop! There's no doubt why Fang is the champion!" The announcer crowed over the microphone as the crowd cheered.

Fang waited by his exit door. The door, sure enough, it opened and Fang retreated from the dead Eraser, the crowd's deafening chants, and the kill ring. The dark crawlspace led to his cage. Fang crawled into his cage and the cage soon shut behind him. He'd tried hundreds of times to see if he could avoid entering the cage, but it just wasn't possible. There were only two destinations: his cage and the kill ring.

Fang preferred his cage. It was much quieter.

Today was Fang' lucky day. He fought well, so a raw scrap of meat was thrown between the bars of his cage. He scarfed the small piece of meat down in a flash, grateful for something to be in his stomach.

The cage lurched. Fang glanced around, his cage was moving, like it did every day. He was done fighting for the day. He looked through the bars and watched the little dark hallway that led to the kill ring disappear. They were putting him where the other fighting mutants were. There weren't too many, since he killed most of them.

Usually, he fought street dogs and sometimes even fighting dogs. It was pretty rare for him to fight a mutant, since there weren't so many of them.

Fang, who was bored and tired after being tense and adrenaline-reliant from fighting, fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke, he heard two men talking. One was the owner of the mutant fighting arena. The other man was unfamiliar to Fang.

"This is him? Fifteen thousand dollars you say, for him?" the man that Fang didn't know said. He had a cigar in his mouth that let off an awful smoke stench. His cold blue eyes stared at Fang coldly. Fang stared at the man back, challenging him.

"Yes, Mr. Batchelder, you see Fang here is our champion. That is why the price may seem a little… lofty. He is definitely worth the price. A he's the best fighter I've ever seen; he's not bad looking either." The ring owner said.

"You're absolutely right, I'll take him. He's definitely worth the price." Mr. Batchelder said. The ring owner grinned, his crooked yellow teeth prominent.

"Splendid! And when do you want him?" The ring owner said as he stared, marveling at the check for fifteen thousand dollars that Jeb had just handed him.

"I'll take him now, If you don't mind." Jeb said coolly.

"Oh, sure! Hey, Ricky! Phil, you guys grab Fang's cage and take him to this gentleman's car. But first…" the ring owner said as he gestured for a different security guy to come forward. The security guy nodded and aimed his gun at Fang. The gun shot with a light sound and the sharp sting of a tranquilizer dart pierced the skin of Fang's upper right arm.

Fang tried to growl ferociously at the man, but the grown died in his throat as he immediately lost consciousness. The other two burly security guys easily lifted Fang's cage off the ground and carried it out to Jeb's limo.

Fang's cage was thrown into the backseat and Jeb lounged on the leather seat as he reached for his cell phone.

"Hello? Dr. Martinez? It's me. I got him, and he might take a little refurbishing, but I got him for a ridiculously low price. If those fools only knew that he was worth well over a million dollars. It was good that they didn't though, for me anyways." Jeb said into the phone.

"He's going to need immediate attention. I'll be there with him in an hour. Just think, in a little less than a month, He and Max will be mates, and maybe around spring or something, Max will have a flock of her own." Jeb said smugly over the phone.

_And I'm going to be sinfully, filthy, unbelievably rich._ Jeb thought as he hung up the phone and ordered the driver to step on it.

**That took a little longer than I wanted it to, and I apologize for the lack of Fax, but I swear on my life that there will be Fax in the next chapter, if I get some reviews! So, if you want the Fax, then review! Review, I tell you!**


	3. Confrontation

**I LOVE YOU GUYS! Seriously, you guys rock! I got over twelve reviews! TWELVE! And I got a zillion story alerts and favorite story alerts! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Here's the fax that you wanted… hehehe….**

**Disclaimer: I really hate repeating myself…**

**Chapter 3: The Confrontation **

Fang woke with a throbbing headache, an after effect of the tranquilizer that the man had injected him with. He glanced around and took in his surroundings. A woman with shiny brown hair and kind brown eyes was looking at him through the bars of his dog crate.

"He's awake." The woman said.

"It's alright, now. You'll never have to fight anything again." the woman opened the dog crate and ran out of the room.

Fang got up and bolted over to the door. He went to touch the door and was thrown back by an invisible force. He looked around the room. He couldn't believe his eyes.

There was a table, and it had more food than he'd ever seen at one time on it. It wasn't raw meat. There was a whole loaf of bread, a lot of beef and some grapes. He'd never seen anything like it, but it smelled good.

He cautiously grabbed the bread. When nothing bad happened, he bit into it. It was one of the best things that he ever tasted.

The large plate of food was empty in less than a few minutes. It was the most food that Fang had ever had at one time. He then felt strangely drowsy. Without the constant gnawing of hunger, he could actually relax and sleep.

He didn't know that the food was drugged. While he was once again in a drug-induced sleep, Dr. Martinez came back into the room. She would have preferred to not put Fang back to sleep, but she didn't have a choice. He probably hated humans for treating him so poorly.

Dr. Martinez looked at Fang's rail thin body. It made her sick to her stomach that someone would treat _anyone_ like that. Many mutants were mistreated here, but never to the extent that Fang was.

She then cleaned him up by wiping all the grime off of his starved body and she then gave him new, clean clothes to wear. Jeb had picked out an outfit quite different than Max's. Instead of a t-shirt that was advertising the park, Fang was given a plain black t-shirt with dark jeans. Fang wasn't going to wear any shoes because Max didn't wear shoes either and there really wasn't any point in it anyways. Jeb decided that the dark and mysterious look would be the thing that sold Fang to the audience. That is, if Fang was going to cooperate enough to perform. If not, Max's babies could always be trained.

There were large slits in the back of the t-shirt so that his wings could still easily move. Dr. Martinez gently guided Fang's wings through the slits.

She then looked at him for a final inspection. His eyes, which were as dark as his wings were closed and moving rapidly beneath his eyelids. His now clean shaggy black hair was now just brushing the tips of his eyelashes and was long enough to just cover the nape of his neck.

Jeb would be pleased. He looked great. The baggy t-shirt covered up the fact that you could see every one of his ribs easily, but a few weeks on a special high-carb diet would fix that.

Dr. Martinez still felt extremely disturbed as she gazed upon the sleeping form of Fang. This boy could have lived a normal life. This boy probably would have a normal home, a normal name, would be in high school by now, and he would probably have a girlfriend. He was very good looking, despite his many scars from a lifetime of fighting and extreme malnourishment.

He would have had normal, human friends. He would have spoken English. Fang would never do any of that. Because of those disgusting wretches that twisted with his DNA at that god-awful place codenamed 'The School' by the government, Fang would never know what a normal life was. Instead, he fought like a savage dog for his whole life then was bought only to breed with another mutant like himself.

At fifteen years old.

And Max, oh, poor Max, she was going to bring babies into the world and she was only fifteen. She had the same problems that Fang did, all because of that demonic School. It was just so unfair that it tore Dr. Martinez's heart to shreds inside.

This poor guy didn't know what being a father was like. Max didn't know the first thing about being a mom. They had no real parents of their own to teach them how a parent was supposed to be. Whether or not Jeb believed that Max and Fang were just mistakes, dumb animals with human faces, they weren't. They were human beings who had horrible things done to them. They had no choice. They should be treated like a normal person would be treated, not stuck in here.

She thought that she would hate the male bird-kid whose only purpose was to complicate Max's life. Now, she only pitied him and maybe some good could come out of this mess after all.

Dr. Martinez's watch beeped, signaling that her time was up. She gave Fang one last lingering glance and hurried out of the room. She would watch the following events on the monitors in the lab.

Fang was about to wake up.

Dr. Martinez double checked to make sure that the door was locked behind her before leaving. She could be fired or worse if Fang was to escape.

Dr. Martinez sat down in front of the monitors in the lab. She paused before she hit the button that would open the door that led to the Aviatory.

If Dr. Martinez were to open that door, Fang would enter the Aviatory. He would be in there alone with Max.

A boy and a girl alone in a place would normally be frowned upon by parents. It was kind of funny that people were encouraging this now. Dr. Martinez rolled her eyes at the thought.

Reluctantly, she tapped on the button. She watched on the screen as a wall in Fang's room lifted and disappeared into the ceiling.

Dr. Martinez could see the grass and the trees of the Aviatory. Fang slowly and groggily stood up.

He looked around at his surroundings. He immediately noticed that he was wearing new clothes. He craned his head backwards so he could get a good look at his wings.

His wings were erect and halfway out, as if prepared to take off. He then snapped them tightly against his back.

Fang then saw that the wall that was previously there was now gone. He sprinted off into the foliage.

Dr. Martinez watched on various screens as Fang ran faster than any normal human could. He shot through the bushes with a grace and agility that amazed her.

Little did Fang know that Max was following him; peeking at him curiously through bushes. Fang eventually reached a thick cement wall. He stopped for a second.

He then ran all along the side of the wall, as if looking for a hole or gap in the cement barrier.

In a matter of minutes, Fang had run the whole perimeter of the Aviatory and was now back at the place where he had first encountered the cement.

Max had silently followed him a few feet behind, concealed by the coniferous foliage. Max took a step forward. She was confused. What was this boy doing here? There wasn't supposed to be humans here. This was _her_ enclosure. How did he get in here? She hadn't seen his wings. She didn't have any idea that Fang was the only person in the world that was just like her.

She stepped on a twig and it let out a loud 'crack!'

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Fang's head whipped around, momentarily concealing his dark eyes. He looked around, tense and on edge. His face was expressionless and revealed nothing.

He peered right where Max was standing. Her heart stopped cold in her chest. He had spotted her.

Without warning, he spread his wings out to their full, breathtaking span of fifteen feet. His wings were as dark as a terrifying nightmare, gleaming with a royal purple glint the sunlight.

Max inhaled sharply. He… he was like her. She'd wished for someone to be there with her but never had she thought that it would actually happen. She never expected him to be so…real. He was breathing, living and winged like she was.

He was so perfect that it was like she was dreaming. If this was a dream, she wished with every feather on her wings that she would never wake up.

Dr. Martinez heard Max make a few various chirping noises from the bushes.

"Why have you come?" Fang heard in his own language. He stared more closely at the bushes.

"Who are you and why can I understand you?" Fang answered.

Dr. Martinez only heard Fang twitter in return. Dr. Martinez almost fell backwards in her chair.

_They speak the same language! They can communicate with each other! _ Dr. Martinez thought excitedly. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what they were saying, but it was in fact a language, not just random bird chirps. The other doctors and scientists had been wrong! Max was intelligent, she just spoke in an unknown language!

If Max and Fang were communicating, Fang certainly wasn't going to harm Max now! Dr. Martinez was so afraid that

Fang's violent background would incline him to attack Max. Instead, maybe it would draw them closer. Who knows, maybe Jeb's crazy plan wasn't so psychotic and moronic as she thought. Maybe some good _would_ come out of this arrangement.

Fang heard chuckling, wonderful, beautiful laughter coming from the bushes.

"You're not supposed to answer a question with another question!" Max giggled from the bushes. "But to answer your question, let me show you."

Max was happier than she'd ever been. She wasn't alone! Maybe this horrible life of constant bondage wasn't so terrible after all. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw her wings. Maybe he wanted a friend too. He had to. No one should want to be alone; not forever.

Max stepped out of the bushes.

Dr. Martinez wished that she had some popcorn. She started jotting down notes of Max and Fang's first encounter on a napkin to satisfy her scientific need. This was it.

Fang stared at her, dumbstruck. Her hair was brown, mainly, but had golden, natural sun streaks here and there. Her beautiful brown eyes were full of mirth and something he couldn't quite place.

Then, she spread out her thirteen foot, brown and white wings.

"We are two of the same." Max replied. She was a mutant. Like him. Is that why he was brought here? Was this some kind of fight? She was tricking him. He knew that she was tricking him to trust her, then she'd unexpectedly kill him.

No, he's worked too long and too hard to lose alike that. He would not die like that. He would be the first to strike. Then, he would live.

It really pained him that he'd have to kill something as wonderful as her. He didn't want to kill her. She was the first mutant that he'd seen that was like him. But he wanted to survive. He'd survived to live this long and he wasn't going to give it all up now.

He stood still for a second. Max stepped closer.

Her wish was coming true. She wasn't alone anymore.

Then, he attacked.

**Hahaha, a cliffy! Some almost-fax, but the Fax will increase with the more reviews that I get! And as the story progresses, the fax will increase… if I keep receiving reviews! So, if you want Fax, you know what to do!**


	4. Birds of a Feather

**I love you guys. Did I already say that? Well, you guys are more than amazing, because I got over thirty reviews for the last chapter and it was a dream come true. THANK YOU SO MUCH! You know, the only reason I bother to type these up is so that I get reviews anyways.**

**Disclaimer: (see first chapter)**

_Previously…_

_It really pained him that he'd have to kill something as wonderful as her. He didn't want to kill her. She was the first mutant that he'd seen that was like him. But he wanted to survive. He'd survived to live this long and he wasn't going to give it all up now. _

_He stood still for a second. Max stepped closer. _

_Her wish was coming true. She wasn't alone anymore. _

_Then, he attacked. _

**Chapter 4 : Birds of a Feather**

Max shrieked in terror, but it was too late. She turned to flee, but he already had her by the throat.

Dr. Martinez jumped out of her chair in alarm. She knew that this would happen. She told Jeb. She told him that Fang was too violent, but greed had prevented him from listening. Now, he was going to pay for it. Fang was going to kill Max, and he'd be left with no star of the amusement park and a few million dollars in unsold Maximum Ride merchandise.

Dr. Martinez grabbed the phone. She dialed Jeb's office faster that she thought possible.

"Yes?" Jeb sad in a bored tone over the phone.

"Mr. Batchelder, get down here _now_! Fang is killing Max. Bring Ari and some other security people while you're at it!" Dr. Martinez snapped into the phone. She hung up, not waiting for his reply.

She never thought that she'd actually _want_ Ari and his goons to come take care of something, but she didn't have a choice. Max was like her second daughter, and she was about to die. She was prepared to do anything that she could to stop that.

Dr. Martinez watched in helpless horror at Fang emotionless expression as he squeezed the life out of Max.

Max was gasping for air, chirping quietly, due to her lack of breath. She gave another feeble chirp.

Fang heard Max pleading quietly, begging him to not kill her. He hid his pain behind his usual emotionless mask. Normally, he didn't let killing his enemies bother him. Somehow, this girl was different from the other people that he'd defeated in the ring. It was like she was the one killing him, not the other way around.

Then, Max kicked him in the chest with both of her feet. His breath let out in a surprised but pained grunt and he let her go. He had felt a few of his ribs crack. He silently marveled at how hard she could kick.

Max was gasping for breath, the color returning to her face. Fang took in a breath and winced. He hated it when he had broken ribs. They made it painful to breathe.

Max ran and took off into the sky. She didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't have a choice. Her vision went foggy for a second. No, she wouldn't cry. Not for him, not for anyone. She did nothing wrong.

He had tried to kill her. Something about that made her feel like her chest had collapsed in. She wanted a companion. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She finally gets someone, and he tries to kill her.

Then, she hears the gunshot. Her gaze shoots downward. She didn't _feel_ like she'd been shot. She'd been shot once before when she was still very small, when she was foolish and tried to escape.

She then saw Fang clutching his arm, which was pouring crimson red blood. Ari was grinning malevolently, holding the smoking handgun.

Ari. He'd shot Fang. Max dived closer to the ground.

Ari walked over to Fang. Fang looked up at Ari. Then Fang slugged Ari across the face. Ari took a few heavy steps backward, muttering curses at Fang.

Fang then kicked and swung at Ari. Fang's astounding fighting skills amazed and frightened Max at the same time. Fang's moves seemed so effortless and swift, fighting was easy for him. . Where did he learn to fight so well? Why would he have had to fight so well?

Then, more guards that tormented Max while Dr. Martinez was away swarmed in to try to get control of Fang. He

was an amazing and deadly fighter. He knocked the guards down, but he was no match for them, there were just too many and they were too strong.

Fang's arm was bleeding more and more until he was standing in a pool of his own blood. Two guards grabbed hold of Fang's arms and they forced him to his knees. Ari brutally kicked Fang in the ribs. Fang tried to muffle his groan of pain, but Max could hear it from where she was flying.

Ari then grinned maliciously, his cold blue eyes just like his father's. Max saw what was coming and didn't want it to happen. Even if Fang tried to kill her, no one deserved to be tormented like that.

Ari savagely slugged Fang's arm with the bullet wound in it. Ari then kicked Fang in his groin and Fang doubled over as far as the guards that were holding his arms would allow him to.

Fang's usual stoic expression was momentarily replaced with one of pain. His expression then returned to its normal impassive state, but utter hatred made his piercing onyx eyes even more terrifying than usual.

If Ari was unnerved by Fang's burning glare, he didn't show it. He then prepared to hit Fang again, right across the face with the side of his gun.

Max made a snap decision. At this point, no one could do anything. Ari's hand was already on motion. Fang was braced for the blow that could very well crack his temple and end his short, miserable life.

Dr. Martinez, Ari, the guards, and Fang could now only watch as the events unfolded.

Ari's gun had his flesh and broken a bone with a sickening snapping noise. Max had dived down in front of Fang and took Ari's blow for him. She stumbled back in a fraction of a second and instead of cracking her temple, her nose was broken instead.

Blood poured from her broken nose and stained her 'Freak Fest' T-shirt.

Fang didn't feel the blow that would've killed him. The guards still held his arms in a titanium grip, so he couldn't break free, but he saw Max's bloody nose and Ari's furious expression. He immediately put the pieces together and figured out what happened, since he wasn't looking.

He didn't understand any of this. If this was a new fight arena, why wouldn't the humans let him kill her? He was only doing what he had always done to survive. When he killed well, the humans were happy. Why did they now all of a sudden want to kill him? What had he done wrong?

The thing that puzzled him the most was that the winged girl had taken the hit for him. He'd never done anything for her. He almost killed her for crying out loud. She was free to escape, she was high up in the air. Why had she done that when she didn't have to? He wouldn't do anything like that for any of his enemies. Except, maybe, for this winged girl.

She was by far different from anything he'd ever encountered in his life. He'd never seen someone else with wings and she didn't even try and fight back. She'd finally hit him, but she was dying; she would've been a fool for not trying to get away from him. But she didn't stick around to fight back like his other enemies did. She left.

Then she came back and took the blow for him. That's what troubled him the most. His head ached from all of this confusion. His body ached from all of the injuries that he'd collected from the long day. He felt like he was about to black out from loss of blood.

He was broken from his trance by the sound of two people shouting at each other, something he heard a lot back at the fighting ring.

The two people fighting were Dr. Martinez and Ari.

"You could've killed her, you do realize that? If she would've died then you would end up bagging cans at the closest Publix because she is the main reason you have a job!" Dr. Martinez yelled at Ari. Dr. Martinez was a good foot and a half shorter, and a great deal smaller than Ari, but her furious smoldering glare made up for her lack of height.

"She has a show tomorrow and what if the crowd notices the big fat bandage that's going to have to be on her nose for the next two to three weeks thanks to your careless abuse! We'll have every animal rights organization here in the country here looking to see if we abuse the mutants here! What will we do then? They'll see the result of your recklessness and anger management issues then we'll all be looking for new jobs! If I'd ever…" Dr. Martinez ranted.

"Save it for someone who cares." Ari cut in. "You are _not_ my boss."

"But I am." Jeb said from behind Ari.

"Dad, tell me that you saw that it was obviously an accident. Max is so unpredictable, there was nothing I…" Jeb cut his son off.

"Doctor, leave worrying about the law and animal rights organizations to me. You should go and fix up these bird- kids before they fall over. They have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I'll cancel the shows for a few days to prepare for the new show," Jeb started. Dr. Martinez wondered when the catch would come into play. "But, you only have five days, and Fang has to be in the show."

There was the catch, and it was a whopper too.

"But you saw what he tried to do, what if…" Dr. Martinez protested hotly.

"Leave the worrying to ma, dear Doctor. You do your job, which is training the animals, and I'll do my job and worry about the risks." Jeb said coolly, as if this were the simplest thing in the world. Jeb was asking the impossible. He wanted her to come up with a new show, in five days, teach it to Max _and _Fang; who was a cold-blooded murderer in Dr. Martinez's opinion.

"Then it's settled. I'll come back at the end of the fifth day to see the new routine. Don't disappoint me, Doctor. I'd hate to fire you after your long years of dedication to this job." Jeb said as he snapped his fingers and left the Aviatory, with Ari and his cronies close at his tail.

_It's not the job I'm dedicated to, it's Max, and it is a huge mistake to bring Fang into all of this._ Dr. Martinez thought.

She looked over at the two bird kids and her heart skipped a few bets in surprise. Max was kneeling down next to Fang, who's eyes were fluttering and glassy. He looked at Max, and fell into unconsciousness. Max looked at Dr. Martinez. She looked pitiful in her bloodstained t-shirt and big, pleading brown eyes.

Max shook Fang's shoulder and he opened one eye, looking agitated. His expression seemed to say 'What now and why do you keep waking me up?'

It was kind of funny, really.

Max chirped something at him and he begrudgingly sat up.

Dr. Martinez didn't know how she was going to get Fang and Max to cooperate enough to where she could patch up their injuries. Then, she had a brilliant idea.

She blew the whistle for two long blows then a twittering blow at the end. Max obediently stood up and walked over to Dr. Martinez, who began walking to the room with the wall that could open and close. It was the only entrance to the Aviatory. It was also the room where Fang had been when she gave him new food and clothes.

Max faltered for a moment, something that she never did and turned to look at Fang who was clutching his arm, as if that were to stop the bleeding.

Max twittered at Fang.

"Well, aren't you coming? That means to follow her, then she'll give us food." Max said as she resumed following Dr. Martinez.

Fang whistled back.

"You can't trust humans. They lie." He said flatly.

Max didn't even turn around.

"Fine. Don't eat. I'm sure that she'll fix your arm too. She's a good human." Max replied. Dr. Martinez watched Fang out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed her radio from the waistband of her jeans and told another whitecoat to put a few supplies in the examining room. That's what the room with the retractable wall was called; the one with the only door that led into the Aviatory.

Sure enough, Dr. Martinez's plan worked. Fang followed a few meters behind Max. He sort of blended into the shadows of the trees and shrubs of the Aviatory. Dr. Martinez allowed herself a small smile.

_The 'monkey see, monkey do' principle obviously works with Avian-Humans as well._ Dr. Martinez thought as she led Fang and Max into the examining room. She left the wall open to the Aviatory so that they wouldn't panic at the sudden enclosed space. She'd found out that Max was extremely claustrophobic and she'd assumed that Fang was too.

The chairs and her medical bag were already in the room, and she blew the whistle in a strange pattern. Max sat down immediately. She chirped at Fang.

"It's not going to hurt you." She said smugly. He didn't reply. He sat down too when he saw that Max wasn't harmed by her chair.

Dr. Martinez decided to work on Fang first, since he was injured the most. As she approached him with the cleansing alcohol and the gauze, he made a growling sound in the back of his throat, very much like a canine would.

She stepped backwards, Fang was eyeing her suspiciously. She needed to work on Fang first, but maybe if he saw Max getting tended to first, then he would allow Dr. Martinez to approach him as well.

Dr. Martinez sat Max's nose back to the way it was and bandaged her nose. She'd noticed that Max healed at an accelerated rate. Max's nose would probably be completely healed in time for the new show. If there even was one.

Fang watched Max cautiously, but Dr. Martinez couldn't help but notice the glint of curiosity in his depthless dark eyes.

Fang realized, that maybe he could trust this woman. Max seemed to trust her wholeheartedly. Trust was a weakness though… just this once. Max had said that this lady would fix his arm, and he was getting a woozy, dizzy feeling. That was a bad sign. He felt like he was about to pass out.

Without a sound, he let Dr. Martinez approach him and poured the alcohol on his bullet wound. Thankfully, the bullet had passed through cleanly and she wouldn't have to dig a bullet out of Fang's arm.

The cleaning alcohol stung fiercely. Fang growled, again, like a canine.

_Why is he so much like a dog? As far as I know, he's only 2% bird, not canine._ Dr. Martinez wondered. This was going to require a few stitches to close the bullet hole. This was going to be wonderful, _not_.

She put numbing cream over the wound, then went to make the first stitch. As soon as the needle pierced his skin, he snarled. Dr. Martinez, not expecting it, jumped back. Max jumped in front of Dr. Martinez. She looked scary and determined. She spread out her brown and white wings, blocking him from getting anywhere near Dr. Martinez.

She chirped at Fang.

"You aren't going to hurt her. You're going to have to go through me first." She said darkly.

"I'm not going to kill her. Or hurt her. "Fang said evenly.

Max eyed him suspiciously as she slowly retracted her magnificent wings. Fang silently marveled at the sight of them.

Max and Fang glared at each other over the course of a half hour as Dr. Martinez sewed Fang's bullet wound closed and set the broken ribs that Max and the guards had given him.

Their food came in through a slot in the door. A bunch of fruit, a tad overripe, some meat that was a little overcooked but still edible, and Fang got a few loaves of bread.

After all of the day's wounds were fixed to the best of Dr. Martinez's ability, the sun was already gone and night penetrated the Aviatory. Dr. Martinez told Max goodbye and Max tweeted in response.

Max then walked off into the Aviatory. Fang wasn't too far behind.

Dr. Martinez made the wall come down, separating the Aviatory from the examination room once again. She waited by the monitors in the lab. She had to make sure that Max was going to be alright for the night.

Max followed her old trail through the a few pines until she reached the waterfall and the pool that it fell into. The silver moonlight made the water glisten like liquid diamonds and it lit u the edges of the tall trees in oddly beautiful ways.

Max's hair looked extra glossy in the moonlight. She knelt down by the pool of water and cupped her hands. She scooped up some water with her hands and brought it to her lips. Fang thought that it would take way too long if he did that. He'd dehydrate before he got any water. He walked over to the waterfall and stuck his head under it. He opened his mouth and took big gulps of water.

Max giggled quietly.

Fang looked over at her, not hostilely, just as apathetic as he usually did. His soaking wet hair looked almost purple in the moonlight. He shook his hair out to dry it somewhat. His hair stuck up in all directions and Max burst out laughing.

Fang couldn't figure out what was so funny, but he knew that her laugh sent pleasurable tingles down his spine. Her laugh was more beautiful than any birdsong. For some strange reason, he was inclined to make her laugh like that as much as he could. It truly was a wonderful sound.

She stopped laughing, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Fang and Max's gaze was caught for a few moments. Nothing made any sound except for the crashing of the waterfall in the background.

Max's smile faded. And she looked down at the water again.

"Why?" Fang said so suddenly that Max's gaze shot up at him; she had forgotten to not look at him.

"Why what?" she said quizzically. He was making absolutely no sense. Maybe he'd lost more blood than Max had thought.

"Why did you let Ari hit you instead of me?" Fang replied, staring deep into her eyes, as if he were scouring her soul for an answer.

"I… I…" Max stuttered. Truthfully, she didn't even know the answer to that question. She just felt like it was the right thing to do. No discernible reason. She should have let him get hit, he probably would've died.

"Because… no one deserves that to be treated like that. Not even you. Besides, birds of a feather stick together" Max answered. That was the closest thing to the truth that she could muster. He might've asked something else but at that moment Max unfurled her wings and ran. She gracefully took off into the sky.

She was such a beautiful flier that it took Fang's breath away. What was wrong with him? What was happening to him? What was she doing to him to make him think like that? Fang had tons of questions buzzing around in his head, but he was more tired than anything else. He took off into the sky.

He looked for a good tree to sleep in, because it felt like he was made to sleep in trees. Something told him in the back of his head that he was supposed to sleep in trees; he couldn't explain it. He then picked out a nice maple tree a little ways from the waterfall and landed in some of its upper branches. He stared at the foreign sky as he fell asleep.

Max tossed and turned in the branches of her 'nest'. Sleep wouldn't come to her for some strange reason. The thoughts were preventing it. Why was Fang so mysterious? Why did he act so weird? Why was he even here? Why had he tried to kill her? Why was he making her feel so…strangely happy? She decided to battle the questions tomorrow. She finally drifted off into a dream filled sleep.

**Sorry it took so long, but hey, at least I posted it! If you want more Fax, then REVIEW! I repeat, MORE FAX=REVIEW!**


	5. Awestruck

**Hey guys! I got, like, a ZILLION reviews/ subscriptions, so thanks for that! And… I have exams coming up so don't yell at me for skimping on updates. Plus, I had a lot of writers block when it came to writing this chapter, so again, please forgive me. **

**Disclaimer: (See 1****st**** chappie) **

**Chapter 5 : Awestruck**

"Welcome to the Freak Fest Amusement Park, where you'll see some of the strangest creatures in existence! Prepare to be amazed and stupefied!" said the annoyingly cheerful voice that blasted the exact same message every day at exactly eight o'clock in the morning.

The noise also acted as Max's alarm clock, waking her up to be up and ready for the tourists to marvel at and snap pictures of her for an hour, then she would be herded off to practice for her first show at ten o'clock.

Max stretched, relaxing her muscles and ruffing her feathers into their regular position. She spread her wings out to their full span and glided out of the tree.

If she didn't wake up by eight o'clock, then the tourists who walked around the Aviatory who hoped to catch a glimpse of Maximum Ride from their extremely safe Plexiglas window would be very disappointed, even angry. Some would be angry enough to never return to the park and file complaints to Jeb. Ari would be more than happy to be Max's painful wake-up alarm every day, if necessary.

Max soared up to the bright and shiny domed ceiling, looking through the thick, spotless plastic at the bright morning sun. She then glimpsed down, two hundred feet below to see if she could spot Fang.

She glided over the hundreds of trees in the Aviatory, hoping to catch a glimpse of her black clad cellmate.

She couldn't see him at all. She even would have seen him if he was on the ground. She did have a bird of prey's superior eyesight. Then why couldn't she find him? Had Ari enforced the wakeup call on him? What if Ari was going to beat him within an inch of his life?

Ari had been ready to kill Fang; Max didn't have to speak the language of humans to see the lust for death in Ari's eyes as he beat Fang up yesterday.

Max listened as hard as she could for that awful gravely sound that Ari made when he communicated with the other humans. What if Fang was already dead?

Max's stomach lurched when the thought occurred to her. Fang could have died yesterday. He'd tried to kill her for no reason at all. Why should she care if he was dead?

She didn't understand the feeling at all. She remembered the way he cautiously looked into her eyes when she told him to follow her so Dr. Martinez could fix his bullet wound yesterday. He didn't show any emotion, and yet, it was the little slivers of motions that managed to break through his stoic demeanor that made her heart flutter. She remembered the way his onyx hair looked after he drank from the waterfall last night; when it was sticking up in all directions like loosely ruffled feathers on her wing.

Something about him… there was something about him that made her feel… different, even jubilant. She felt the need to find out more about him. For some strange reason, she wanted him to trust her, to talk to her. Deep down, she knew that maybe he could be the one that would keep her company forever, like the other mutants in the park had.

Then, she felt something brush against her wing.

She yelped. She was hundreds of feet off the ground; nothing should touch her up here. She glanced around wildly, looking for whatever touched her wing. Fang's emotionless eyes looked back at her.

She had to stop herself from gasping at his magnificent wings. His wingspan was noticeably broader and larger than hers. His wings were a breathtaking dark, dark black that had a violet sheen when the sun hit them just right. Here he was, the only person in the world like her, flying right above her.

They were both silent. They flew in large circles for minutes, which felt like years to Max, even though her mind was racing. She had thought that she was alone for so long, a person just like her was here, was _real_, and flying _with_ her.

They then glided by the wall with the Plexiglas window where the tourists stared openmouthed at the pair of winged teenagers, gliding effortlessly hundreds of feet above the ground.

Fang looked at them, almost like he was suspicious, but Max couldn't really tell.

"Why are they here?" Fang asked suddenly breaking the silence and startling Max once more. His voice was deep, like the roar of the waterfall. She'd forgotten what it had sounded like.

"They come to look at us, so I let them. You should too. Otherwise, you will be punished for hiding." Max said. He then turned both of his inky black irises to her, like he was carefully examining her. She felt her cheeks get hot, and didn't understand why. She wasn't overexerted; then why was her face as red as blood? She couldn't look into his eyes for long; it was as if he were burning holes into her very soul.

Then, a clear, loud whistle sounded; two long tweets and a twittering at the end. That meant that it was time to eat.

"That means it's time to eat." Max said, translating the whistle blows for Fang. Fang just barely nodded his head as he gracefully banked and descended. Max was right behind him. Then she shot down towards the ground at a hundred or so miles per hour. She shot past Fang, who's emotionless mask faltered for a moment to express his shock. Max stopped a few feet from the ground and her fingers brushed against the ground as she swooped upwards.

She grinned at Fang who looked at her. Then he did something that surprised her even more. He disappeared into thin air. Just like that.

Max's jaw dropped. He reappeared next to her. She yelped and Fang was grinning. She couldn't decide about what she should be more surprised about, Fang's ability to disappear or the fact that he _grinned _at her.

"You're not the only one with talents." Fang said as he soundlessly and flawlessly landed and folded his wings against his back. Max circled in the air a few times before landing.

Fang could turn _invisible_. God knows what else he was hiding from her. He had so many secrets, and she was determined to learn them all.

With that in mind she landed and walked over to the examination room, where the food was waiting for them. Bland oatmeal in plastic bowls and a large plate of semi-charred toast was there for them by the locked and electrically sealed door. There was also two jugs of milk.

Max took her jug and bowl and sat down, leaning against the wall. She carefully tilted the oatmeal bowl toward her mouth, and she didn't spill a drop. She left the toast for Fang. He was probably hungrier than she was anyways.

Fang, on the other hand, was less skilled when he tried to pour the oatmeal into his mouth. He didn't even bother to sit down to eat like Max did. He remained standing as he inhaled the oatmeal.

Fang heard Max laugh quietly from the wall. He looked over at her. She was smothering her laughs, but as soon as he turned to look at her, she was full out laughing and made no effort to conceal it.

Fang looked at her quizzically.

"You… you have… all over your face!" Max wheezed as she set off into hysterics again. Fang didn't know what she was talking about. There weren't any reflective surfaces near, so Fang couldn't even look to see what Max was laughing at.

She managed to take a deep breath and stop laughing. She stood up and managed to not laugh as she walked over to Fang.

He looked over at her, unsure of what she was going to do. He stood stock still, but his depthless dark eyes followed her every move.

She grinned crookedly as she gently wiped off the oatmeal around his mouth with her thumb.

"Jeez, you're supposed to put the food _in_ your face, not on it." Max smirked. Fang didn't say anything. He stared at her eyes, wondering so many things about her.

He wondered if he really didn't have to kill her. He wondered if she really wasn't his enemy and if she wasn't then why was he here? How did she come to have wings like he did? What was this place? He didn't even know her name. Even deeper questions penetrated him. She sure wasn't like the other mutants that he'd fought and defeated.

She could speak the same language as him, even. Why did she make him feel the need to be good to her? And why did he feel like he… he couldn't really put his emotions into words quite right… why did he feel like he wanted her? He didn't want to attack her; he felt the need to protect her from jerks like Ari.

He sort of liked that she was so close to him now. Her light touch was softer than a feather, yet it sent thousands of volts of electricity through his body. This kind of electricity didn't hurt him like invisible barrier fences did though; these charges were strangely pleasurable and intoxicating at the same time.

She made him feel new emotions that made his head spin.

Fang stared into Max's warm brown eyes, and on instinct, leaned toward her meanwhile keeping solid eye contact with her.

Max didn't know what he was doing. Fang didn't even what he was doing. The two of them were being controlled purely by their instincts, and their souls.

They were close enough to feel the other's breath caressing their cheek. Max could evn see that hidden in Fang's obsidian eyes, little gold flecks were speckled in his irises.

Fang never liked people to get near him. No one had ever been that close to him before, but he sort of liked it.

Their breathing slowed way down, and time itself seemed to turn to molasses. Max's heart thumped quickly and everything else but Fang faded into a blur.

They're lips grew closer and closer.

Then, the door opened loudly. Dr. Martinez walked in.

"Okay, Max! Time for training; you too Fang." Dr. Martinez said. Then she saw how close the two teenagers were to each other. She sort of felt like she was intruding, and there was no doubt that she would get an earful from Jeb for 'interrupting the chance of them 'bonding'. Dr. Martinez didn't know what was worse, her getting chewed out by her boss or the thought of poor, naïve Max raising a flock of her own at fifteen.

She blew the whistle, and Max immediately knew that it was time for training. She looked at Fang and told him that they were training.

The deep, intense expression in Fang's eyes was enough to make her really question what he was doing to her. What was she going to do with him a moment ago? It made absolutely no sense.

Fang felt similarly, he just gave no sign of it.

Dr. Martinez bit her lip as she passed Fang, whom she couldn't help but dislike. Things were just bearable before he came, but he came and was going to ruin Max's life.

Max didn't even need Dr. Martinez to blow the whistle to know that she was supposed to follow her to the Aviatory. Max chirped at Fang.

"Well, come on!" she said lightly, but she sure didn't forget what happened before Dr. Martinez walked in. Fang soundlessly followed Max to the greenness of the Aviatory.

DR. Martinez reluctantly stopped in front of the clear Plexiglas wall that the tourists were looking through. The window was practically soundproof, but she could hear the exclamations of wonder, exclamation, and surprise.

Mostly, they were talking about Fang.

"Is that dark one new?"

"Yes, I think they rescued him from an abusive mutant facility."

"How nice, it also say that they are trying to breed him with Maximum Ride!"

"Oh, really? Well, let's just hope that no children are around when they do. That would be…"

"Yeah, but you have to admit, the little baby bird humans are going to be adorable."

"Yep, they sure are. Hey, the park brochure says that if you buy passes, that you will get to see the first Maximum Ride show with that other bird kid. It says that his name is Fang."

"We'd better go get passes; I don't want to miss that!"

Dr. Martinez was really steamed over that conversation and others like it. She didn't care what everyone else said, Max was human, mostly. She deserved a choice in her future. These people were talking as if Max was simply a tiger or bear that could just raise young at a young age and that was okay.

Dr. Martinez should have been used to that sort of behavior from people over the many years that she'd worked there, but that conversation just made her mad all over again.

She really wanted to move away from the window with all of the spectators peering in, but Jeb had made it very clear, she had to train Fang and Max in front of the window. More business would come from it or something like that.

They began training for the brand new show.

Max picked up on it quite well. She spiraled, twirled, and looped in the air like she was born to do it. Of course, she was.

Fang, on the other hand, watched Max glide and swoop from the ground. He looked at Dr. Martinez with a blank expression before spreading his wings and gliding away from the tourists and the training session.

Max watched him go. She finished the training session, which ended shortly after Fang flew off.

Max landed and watched Dr. Martinez furiously stomp away, cursing her bad luck and Fang in a language that Max didn't comprehend.

Dr. Martinez usually smiled at her when she finished a good training session, but not today.

Dr. Martinez didn't even turn around.

Max understood that Dr. Martinez was mad because Fang wasn't doing the routine and he left without being told to.

Normally, Max would have let him be. Instead, she flew up into the air to look for him.

She found him by the waterfall.

"So…" Max said as she sat down next to him. He was sitting by the pool at the base of the waterfall's edge.

Fang didn't say anything. He didn't even look over.

"Why didn't you try and do the routine. I would have told you what the chirps meant. It's really not hard." Max said as she looked at Fang, trying to ignite that spark that they'd shared back at breakfast.

He was as silent as death. A minute passed.

"Fine! If you don't think that I'm important enough to talk to, even after I saved your life after you tried to _kill_ me! I still don't even know why you did that, by the way! I try to show you how things are done around here, but you are just silent and you ignore me. Fine. If you keep it up, they'll retire like they retire all the other useless experiments." Max said angrily. She stood up, preparing to take off.

"Max." a deep voice said quietly. Fang. Max turned around. Fang was _right_ next to her. They were as close together as they were earlier.

He then leaned forward and as quick as a flash, pressed his lips against hers. Max's eyes widened.

What was the purpose of this? What was he doing? What was _she_ doing?

Then, she realized how wonderful. It was like she was swooping, diving, and twirling above the ground, except free, like flying in the sky outside of the Aviatory's dome. Sparks and stars happily danced in her vision.

She closed her eyes and let herself get swept away by the beautiful, wonderful feeling of Fang's lips against hers.

Then, he pulled away. He looked in her eyes, and she looked dumbstruck.

"I tried to kill you because that's all I've ever known." Fang said. His deep voice sent exhilarating tingles down her spine. Fang turned around and took off. He didn't look back once.

Max stood on the ground, staring at his dark flying figure until he was out of her line of sight; awestruck.

**Yeah, well, it's not as wonderful as I'd hoped, but I hope that you enjoy it anyways. Review or I WILL NOT update.**


	6. A Loss For Words

**Hello again! It was my final day of school today so I'll be able to update like, every couple of days if not every day. Thank you guys so very much for the reviews. You guys are truly the best readers a writer wannabe could want! And for all you anonymous reviewers out there, I really wish that I could reply to your reviews but alas, I can't. so, this chapter is to all you anonymous reviewers who I, sadly, can't reply to. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. I am so freaking sick of typing that horridly boring sentence. **

**Chapter 6: A Loss For Words**

Max attempted to keep her balance as she giddily flew to her treetop 'nest'. She didn't have the slightest idea about what sort of connection that she'd shared with Fang, but she loved every second of it. It was like she was drunk off of the feeling of pure bliss and wonder.

She flopped down in the uppermost branches of her tree, staring at the afternoon sun. She replayed the electrifying moment where Fang's lips touched hers.

That just brought back the cascade of questions that she had about Fang back into her mind. He was just so darn mysterious and somehow, she found that strangely alluring.

Why should she care about some strange, incredibly attractive male bird human that had been dumped in her enclosure? Why should she give the slightest thought about him? He had tried to kill, not harm, _kill_ her.

But they had only just met. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding. She dove back and saved his butt from Ari for some reason; she didn't know why yet. But she was determined to figure out why she had saved him and the thousands of other questions that she had in mind about the dark and dangerous boy.

She didn't even know his name. He'd never told her.

She was about to hunt him down and make him explain _everything _when Fang's head appeared over hers. In an instant, as if on a reflex, she sat up and smacked her forehead against Fang's.

"Yowch!" Max yelped as she scooted as far away from Fang as the tree would allow; gently massaging the throbbing spot where she'd whacked into Fang.

Fang growled and mumbled something incoherently. It didn't sound like a compliment.

"What did you do that for?" Max said grumpily, still massaging her forehead.

Fang scowled at her, his dark eyebrows scrunching together.

"Me? You're the one who stupidly sat up and smacked into _me_!" Fang complained.

"Well I wouldn't have sat up if you didn't scare the feathers off of me!" Max shot back. Fang muttered something and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I won't bother you again." Fang said, his stoic expression returning. He spread his massive black wings out; ready to leap from the trees tallest bough and soar off to the other side of the Aviatory.

Max stopped rubbing her head and stood up, stepping on the thick limbs as nimbly as a squirrel and was by Fang's side in a moment.

"Wait," Max said in a softer tone. "Don't go."

Fang turned his head and looked at Max's softened expression.

His face seemed to have the slightest trace of forgiveness and something else; the same sort of fire in his eyes that Max had seen in his glittering black eyes right before they kissed.

His wings snapped against his back, his midnight dark feathers whispering to one another as they ruffled and fell into perfect alignment with his back.

Max sat down on one of the more comfortable limbs and she motioned for Fang to sit down next to her. Wordlessly, Fang settled down into a limb very close to the one Max was sitting on; so close, in fact, that their hands brushed against each other's. Pleasurable tingles prickled the skin where the other person's hand came in contact with their own.

Max looked at Fang's face, looking for any indication to whether or not he'd done that on purpose. A small corner of his lip quirked up in a small, miniscule type of smile as he caught Max's astonished gaze out of the corner of his eye.

However, he kept most of his focus on the view from the top of the tree that they were currently perched atop.

Max's tree was the tallest and largest tree in the Aviatory, which was one of the reasons that Max liked it so much. It also hd a spectacular view of the rest of the Aviatory.

Thre whole acres of trees spread out like a green, leafy canvas. The high, well-polished domed glass ceiling allowed the warm golden light of the early afternoon to light up th whole Aviatory. It was almost as if there was no roof at all.

In the northeast of the tree, there was the tall waterfall where mist billowed up from where the falls hit the rocks and the large reflection pool below it. Fang could even spot small streams cutting through the green forestry like electric blue snakes, whose scales were constantly moving.

Overall, the view was nothing like he'd ever seen before. The largest space that he was ever allowed was the fighting arena, and even that was barely enough for him to get off the ground. Here, there was way more than enough room to fly, walk, whatever. It was almost like he was _free_.

The only thing that kind of ruined the image were the dreary cement walls that wrapped around the Aviatory, enclosing Fang and Max in an endless circle. Fang had realized that when he'd originally searched the perimeter of the Aviatory, there had been no corners on the outer walls. The Aviatory was like a giant circle on the ground with a domed ceiling. S it was like a half-sphere.

And on Fang's least favorite edge of the wall, there were people leering through the impossibly thick glass, hoping to catch a glimpse of the winged freaks. The tourists snapped pictures with their cameras, emitting blinding flashes at random intervals and squawked at them with loud, undecipherable sounds.

Fang despised them.

He still could barely believe it. It was still almost like heaven. There was plenty of room, good food, as far as he knew, he didn't have to kill anything, and he was here with a beautiful bird-girl that was like him. A girl that he was drawn to like a starving wolf was to a henhouse.

He looked over at Max, and saw her hair practically glowing copper and gold in the sunlight. She sloly spread out her wings and let the sun shine through them. They were indeed, marvelous and beautiful, but not nearly as wonderful as Mas was.

Following her example, Fang spread out his pitch black wings too. He could see why she had done it.

As the sun shined it's buttery light on his glistening black wings, it warmed his wings and warmed his whole body, instantly relaxing him and making him feel… great.

He also noticed that her wingspan was noticeably shorter than his was and her wings were just… smaller, more delicate.

HE had a gut feeling that he should wrap his wing around her and therefore pull her closer. The last time that he'd followed his gut feeling, it led him to kiss her, which was easily the happiest he'd been in his life.

So, he stretched out his wing as far as it would go and gently drew it back until it was around Max's small frame.

Max was enveloped in an earthy, masculine, musky scent that could only be Fang. It made her heart flutter and her eyes droop and it felt like her soul had been set on fire.

One part of her brain told her to brush him away and make a run for it. She had to admit, she was terrified. All of these new feelings… they just couldn't be natural. They were almost too good to be true. Just like him. There had to be more to his attempted murder than he was letting on. He could just be biding his time, waiting until all of her walls were down and she was safely pulled against him when he'd strangle her or snap her neck with one powerful movement of his muscular arm.

Then again, she desperately wanted to believe that he was good. The attempted murder was a misunderstanding. Another part of her told her to let him pull her close until the only scent that she could inhale was his scent and the only noise that she could hear was his steady breathing and the beating of his heart inside of his chest. She wanted to feel his warm arms around her. She wanted, most of all, for him to kiss her again.

She decided to go with the second choice. If Fang showed any sign at all of turning rogue, she'd be out of there.

Max pulled her wings in, a silent sign that she was allowing Fang to pull her closer. He was surprised. He didn't expect her to give in like that.

He really did allow himself to smile a small smile.

In a second, Max was right next to him, breathing in his intoxicating scent. Fan still had his wings out, loosely now, one wrapped around Max still. He put his arm around her shoulders and automatically rubbed the spot right in between her wings. Max shuddered.

No one had ever been so close to her. And she loved ever second. She wished that it would never end.

Now would be a good time as ever to start a conversation. She was just at a loss for words.

**Sorry, this was inexcusably short, but I will update again this weekend. I am just REALLY tired and I wanted to give this up before I went to sleep. It's been a long, hard, taxing day of three hour finals and I'm wiped. I owed it to you guys to update today, so I hope you enjoyed it. You'd better like the peaceful fax, because some shocking surprises will rock this all to pieces, you wait and see. Well, if you want to see what I'm talking about REVIEW, or you can just forget about it. **


	7. Just One Rule

**I know that you guys are probably going to kill me for not updating sooner, so go ahead and try. I was too busy. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, otherwise this story would be printed ad published, and I would be rich. **

**Chapter 7: Just One Rule**

The silence was surprisingly comfortable. One of Fang's wings was wrapped around Max's tall but thin form. They were sitting in the highest boughs of a tree looking at the view of the whole Aviatory.

Acres of various types of trees and beautifully gardened shrubbery and grass spread out in front of them. They could see he large, artificial waterfall creating mist against the wall. They could even see the tourists, craning their necks, squinting, and using binoculars to try and look at them.

Fang softly rubbed the spot between her wings, and Max could have melted from pleasure. She did grin and lean her head against Fang's chest. She looked up at Fang, who was a good four inches taller than her. Fang's coal black eyes, which were usually indecipherable, were softer than she'd ever see them.

It was utter perfection.

However, Max had to ask the question that had been bothering her ever since the day that Fang first appeared in the Aviatory.

"I don't know your name." Max said softly. Fang looked at her and smirked a sort of half-smirk that he seemed to do a lot.

"Fang." he said. "I didn't get your name either."

His deep voice vibrated in his chest.

"Max, Maximum Ride. That's what the humans call me. You can call me Max." She said.

"Max," he repeated. She nodded in conformation. She loved the way that her name sounded in his voice. He looked back at the panoramic view. Max looked down to the base of the tree that they were sitting in. That was a question that was bothering her, but the real one that bothered her was why Fang had tried to kill her.

She had a flashback.

_She walked out of the bushes and up to Fang, hoping that her wish would come true. He didn't show any emotion. She kept speaking softly ad evenly, so that she wouldn't spook him. Then, she spread out her wings. _

_She saw shock register on his face, then it went cold and emotionless. Usually, his lack of emotion was just quiet, observing. He just didn't want to express anything. That time, his emotionless demeanor sent cold shivers up her spine. It was like a freezing cold draft had just chilled her to the bone. _

_She had a really bad feeling, but shoved it aside. He approached her, and she thought that she had just been overreacting. Finally, she wasn't alone in this place anymore. She would have someone to talk to. _

_Finally, he was right in front of her. He was taller than her, but was built like she was; tall, thin, but muscular. He was probably really strong like she was too. She looked up into his inky black eyes. His dark black hair just barely concealed the tips of his eyelashes. _

_Then in a flash, her dream come true turned into a horrible nightmare. His arm reached out and before her heart could beat, he had her by the throat and lifted her into the air. She was gasping for air, but he tightened his grip around her neck. She flailed her legs uselessly. _

"_Stop it, please. I can't breathe! Let me go!" she whispered, because the lack of oxygen wouldn't allow her to talk much louder. _

"_Please, I've been good. I didn't do anything wrong. Have mercy, please!" She gasped. She felt her vision get foggy. She found that she was getting weak. She could barely move her legs. _

"_Please…" she said in an eve quieter whisper. She weakly glanced at his eyes; his cold, dark, endless, soul consuming eyes. They were colder than ice. He didn't feel any remorse for what he was doing. It was like he couldn't even hear her. If he did, he didn't care. He didn't care that it hurt or that she didn't want to die. _

_She didn't have a choice. She mustered up all of the energy that she had and kicked at Fang with both feet as hard as she could. She heard the satisfying crack when her feet collided with his chest. She heard him inhale sharply and she knew that she had broken more than a few of his ribs. She knew that it had hurt. Ari had broken quite a few of her ribs in the past. _

_Fang had let her go as he stumbled backwards. She took off, taking two long, swift strides and lifting up into the air. Up, up she soared higher and higher. Fang looked up at her and she heard a deafening bang. Fang clutched his shoulder, and with her hawk-like vision, she could see the blood pouring out of his arm. _

The flashback ended abruptly. She realized where she was. She was right next to Fang. Who cares if he had acted nice recently? What if he would go all psyco and try to kill her again. She might not get lucky this time.

But if he was acting, he was doing a dang good job. He looked emotionless, yes, but almost in a calm, placid sort of way. Nothing like the way he had when he had attempted to kill her. Here he was, his wing wrapped around her, keeping her warm ad he was rubbing her back in a way that felt so indescribably _good_.

Fang sighed and looked at her.

"I tried to kill you because that's what I thought that I was supposed to do." Fang said. Max looked at him strangely.

"Why would you have to kill me?" she asked, truly puzzled. The more that she learned about Fang, the more that she wanted to know about him.

He looked almost pained. She thought that he wasn't going to say anything else, but surprisingly, he continued.

"All that I've ever done for as long as I can remember is… there was only one rule. Kill or be killed. Every day, they put me in a big ring with one other creature. Usually it was dogs. Humans stood around the ring; watching and making noise. I learned that you have to kill the other thing in the ring before it kills you. That is the only way to survive. At first, when I was really young, I had a few close calls. Lucky for me, I'm a fast learner." Fang said.

He held out his tanned arm and Max looked at it closely. She'd never noticed before, but it was covered with scars, some really old and some much more recent. There were long white scars where claws had tor through his flesh. Then there were little puncture scars in upside down 'U' shapes that could only be the bites of dogs from long ago.

Max didn't know what she should be more shocked about, what Fang had just said or the fact that he'd said so much.

She imagined Fang as a small little boy, scared in a big ring with big ugly humans leering, shouting, and jeering at him. Then, some big ugly dog that was probably much bigger than Fang was jumps out and tries to rip Fang's throat out. She shuddered.

She didn't know what she should say so, naturally, she probed him further.

"You said that you usually fought dogs. What else did you fight?" Max asked quietly, looking away from his arm. She could only imagine what the rest of him looked like if it was covered with scars like that.

Fang looked at the ground. He retracted his wing away from Max and swiftly folded it against his back. It blended in with his black t-shirt. Before she could ask why he did that, she looked at his face.

For the first time, he was showing emotion; pain. There was an even deeper emotion shadowing his handsome face; shame. Max had a really bad feeling about what was coming next.

He looked at her with an expression so sad, that it broke her heart.

"Mutants. That's what I had to kill. Mutants just like us." Fang said scowling at the ground now. She fit all of the pieces together now.

Fang had tried to kill her because he thought that this was another sick little game made up by humans. He thought that he had to kill her or she would kill him.

She saw images of Fang coldly killing little baby mutants like the ones here at the amusement park. She saw them pleading, begging for life like she had. No wonder he didn't listen. He had probably stopped listening to their final pleas long ago.

Innocent blood was spilled because of him. She was absolutely appalled and sickened by this. Little winged babies… he killed them all.

She couldn't shove back the tears of anger, upset, and betrayal. He was a coldblooded murder. He was worse than Ari. At least Ari had beaten her up when she had messed up. Fang killed them when they were innocent. His cold, dark eyes were the last things that his victims had ever seen before he murdered them. There was no other word for it. He was a murder. And he didn't even bother to tell her before now.

She felt so stupid. She had felt this strong _connection_ with him, when he had killed so many other mutants like her. It hurt so badly in her chest, that it was unbearable. It was like she was starving, but nothing could satisfy her hunger. It was like she was dehydrating, but nothing could quench her thirst.

A single angry tear dripped down her face.

"How… how could you? You killed you own kind!" Max said angrily. Fang stared intently at the ground not even looking over at her.

"I had to Max. I didn't have a choice." He said.

"You did! You did have a choice! You could've died! You didn't have to kill them! You didn't have to play by their rules!" Max spat. More angry tears leaked from her coco brown eyes.

"What, and die? Max, I was little when they first put me in a fight. I didn't want to die! I was scared." Fang said letting emotion slowly creep into his flat tone.

"But you're not little anymore! You're my age, if not older. Didn't you see them crying? Didn't you hear all the little defenseless mutants begging for you to let them live? Did you? You should have done nothing! You didn't have to kill them! You're a murderer!" Max shouted.

When Fang looked at her she immediately regretted what she just said. His expression could only be described as utter pain, shame and remorse.

"You think I don't hear them? I hear them every day, Max! I hear them every time I take a breath, because I know it's another breath that I've stolen from them! I hear them every night! I hear them begging me to stop, begging me, pleading me to spare them! Every night, it's like I killed them all over again! You think that I wanted to kill them, you think that I killed them in cold blood?" Fang started. His eyes flashed for a moment with anger but then returned to mournful darkness.

"I regret killing them, Max. Every last one. I don't deserve to live, you're right. Go ahead, avenge the ones that I _murdered_." He spat that last word. "Shove me off of this branch. I won't even try to stop the fall. If you don't believe me, break my wings. I won't fight."

Max was so overwhelmed with emotion, that she didn't know what to do. She should go and shove him right out of the tree. After all, it was _her_ tree. He deserved to die. He killed mutants. He killed them just that he could keep his sorry skin.

She stood up, perfectly balanced on the thick tree limbs. Fang sat on the edge, looking so, so sad. He also looked sort of determined; he was preparing himself for death. She saw his wings tighten against his back. He didn't trust himself from flying away when he was falling. Finally, he closed his dark eyes. He really believed that she was going to shove him off the tree.

Fang wanted to tell her that these past two days that he'd been with her at the Aviatory had been the best ones in his life. She had made those two days the best ones in his life. She was the only bit of perfection that he'd ever had in his life. At least he got to experience a little bit of heaven before he died.

Max put out her arms to shove him off the branch. Her arm wavered, then fell to her side. She looked at him one last time and burst into tears, covering herself completely with her wings as she slumped into a sitting position next to him. Fang was surprised. Why didn't she shove him off the branch?

He wrapped his strong, muscular arms around her as she sobbed.

It was quiet, except for occasional sniffing coming from Max. Then, she pulled her wings tight against her back and buried her head into Fang's black shirt.

"Just tell me one thing." Max said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Alright, Max." he said softly.

"Did... did you kill a lot of them?" She replied. It was really quiet for a minute. She thought that either he didn't hear her or he didn't want to answer.

"Very few. When I did, it was almost always an Eraser, which are half human-half bloodthirsty wolf monsters. They would kill anything, anyone without a glance. They didn't care who or what they killed. Like I said, I usually fought dogs. Otherwise, I fought only a dozen or so other mutants besides Erasers." Fang said.

Max was sort of relieved by the fact that he didn't kill many. He killed maybe twelve out of a whole lifetime of fighting. And these Eraser creatures sounded like they deserved to die. He only fought to live… Max would have done anything to live when Fang had tried to kill her. She would've probably killed him, if she had to.

He was sorry. He was even willing to die to pay his debt. She really didn't blame him for what he did now. She blamed the sick, sadistic humans who put him up to it in the first place. I was really their fault that those mutants were dead. They never would have died if they weren't forced to fight impossible fights. It was all the humans' fault.

"I was wrong." she croaked. Fang looked at her.

"You don't deserve to die. You only did what you had to. I just didn't… understand." She said, trying to shove the rest of her mushy emotions away.

"You said that there was only one rule where you came from, 'kill or be killed. Well here, there's a different rule: 'do what the humans say and you'll live'. No killing involved. Do you think that you can follow that?" She said, her voice returning to normal. She quickly wiped all of her tears away.

Fang gave her a wry half-smirk.

"Yeah, I think that I can follow that. But if Ari comes back and tries to kill you or me, I might have to bend the rule a little." Fang replied. She smiled halfheartedly.

It was strange; normally Dr. Martinez would have blown her whistle signaling the start of a show. There was a stunning lack of whistle blowing.

"I want to go fly for a bit." Max said. She jumped out of the tree and took off. Fang assumed that she wanted to be alone so he just watched her from his tree limb. She circled the tree.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Max shouted at him. He flashed her a rare grin and he opened his amazing raven wings and was next to her.

They glided high above the ground, a dozen feet below the ceiling. Max looked at Fang, who was flying above her. She resisted the urge to smile mischievously as she purposely bumped her wing against his. She was just trying to throw his flight pattern off balance.

He wavered for a second and looked a little surprised, but quickly regained the rhythm of flapping his wings. He looked down at her with his eyebrows scrunched together, indicating that he was confused.

She grinned as she immediately whacked his wing again and dropped down a few feet in altitude, grinning all the way. Fang smirked at her.

He dived after her and swooped next to her, bumping his wing into hers. She wobbled unsteadily in the air before regaining her balance. She scowled playfully at him. He flew faster.

Max grinned as she chased after him. She used her ability to fly fast to attempt to catch up with him, but he was pretty fast himself and he kept turning invisible, then reappearing in a different direction.

Max's heart felt lighter than it had in ages and all of Fang's worries and problems faded away. They kept this up for hours, which only felt like minutes.

They didn't have the slightest idea that Dr. Martinez had been watching them on the monitors in the lab that whole time, wondering what they were saying, but understanding their body language perfectly.

She couldn't help but be grateful for Fang in some small ways. Something that he said had made Max really mad, and then she had started crying. They shared such human expressions, that it had startled her. Max had never acted so… human before. She had only seen her cry twice and she rarely smiled. That is, if not for the show.

Otherwise, Max's expression was almost always blank, hinting some vague human expressions. Now, they were like a pair of flirting, flying teenagers. Almost normal.

Max was really happy with Fang. She had always seemed so lonely, she was so happy to have a 'companion'. Dr. Martinez flat out refused to call Fang her 'mate'.

Thank God, those two bird-kids hadn't taken their relationship too far, but sooner or later… they would. There was no guilt or boundaries confining their relationship. It was only a matter of time before Jeb got his wish and Max's life would fall into pieces.

**So. I made that extra-long and dramatic to satisfy you guys. It will be even better in the next chapter if you review. You heard me; I didn't spend four hours typing this to get only four reviews, so IF YOU ARE READING THIS REVIEW!**


	8. The Max and Fang Show

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews/ story alerts! I even got a few favorite author/author alerts so thank you for that, too! And I truthfully apologize for the delay, but I've been on an internet free vacation, and have been unable to update. This chapter is more of a filler, but I swear that the next chapter will be a whole lot better and this chapter is absolutely necessary for the plot. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride! I only own the plot/dialogue. **

**Chapter 8: The Max and Fang Show**

Dr. Martinez walked out to the examining room and pressed a button on the keypad panel. The wall that separated the examining room from the Aviatory rose until it was completely retracted into the ceiling.

She blew the whistle in a series of chirps. Max should be around soon, bringing Fang with her. She was going to attempt to start training for the brand new show routine.

Of course, Max and Fang would eat the few dozen sandwiches that she brought and then they would start training.

She knew that Fang would cooperate this time, because she brought out an old tool that she had regrettably used on Max when she had first started to train her. Of course, Max was three years old when she first started to train her, so a few adjustments had to be made before it could be put to use.

Sr. Martinez put the tray of sandwiches and two water bottles on the small, short plastic table in the examination room and waited for Max and Fang to show up.

It was only a moment before Max and Fang landed on the grass in front of the examination room.

Max was actually _laughing_. Dr. Martinez was so surprised that her jaw dropped. She quickly regained her composure. Dr. Martinez didn't even know that Max _could_ laugh. Well, Max had certainly never done it before, but she'd never really had reason to.

That wasn't the only thing that surprised her. Fang was looking at Max and he was _smiling_. The only other thing that she's ever seen him do was scowl; otherwise, he was as hard to read as a brick wall. However, as soon as he turned his head to look at Dr. Martinez, his smile instantly disappeared and was once again replaced by his usual stoic expression.

Max immediately walked over to the sandwiches and Fang followed her.

Max already knew how to correctly eat a sandwich, but Max had to show Fang. She also made sure that he wasn't inhaling the sandwiches. Surprisingly, he listened to her.

They chirped and twittered at each other, Max's voice as light and airy as a songbird and Fang's voice was a deep, bass sound that faintly resembled a hawk's cries.

Fang chirped something in that strange, deep pitch that he possessed then shifted his wings uncomfortably.

Wait, uncomfortably? According to the mutant 'specialists', these Human-Avian hybrids were only semi-intelligent birds in human skins. They couldn't feel real, human emotions like being uncomfortable, could they?

Dr. Martinez was silently ecstatic at her discovery. She knew it, she knew that Max and Fang were much more human then they usually let on. It just took a companion to make their more human qualities shine through.

It was quiet, neither bird-teen communicated with the other for a while. Max's face was an astonishing shade of scarlet. Fang was intently and unemotionally focused on devouring his sixth sandwich.

Dr. Martinez stared at Max; Max was actually _blushing_? Dr. Martinez would have given her doctorate's degree to know what Fang had just told Max.

Another few minutes had passed, and the sandwiches had been eaten. Dr. Martinez blew the whistle in a pattern meaning 'follow me'.

Max twittered at Fang without looking at him, her cheeks still tinged with pink. Fang followed behind them, but at a distance this time.

Once again, they were in front of the thick Plexiglas window where tourists pressed their greasy noses against the plastic to get a good look at Max and Fang.

Dr. Martinez walked over to Fang. She couldn't deny that she was scared. He was definitely unnerving, and his smoldering black irises bordered on unbearable. Besides, he also tended to be violent when confronted by humans.

Fang's unreadable gaze turned a degree colder as she approached. Dr. Martinez walked toward him slowly, trying to keep eye contact. It was really hard to maintain eye contact considering that his eyes were like two identical black holes that seemed to be severing her soul from her body.

Max's light brown eyes darted between Dr. Martinez and Fang. She walked over to Fang and brushed her hand against his.

Fang looked over at Max and they shared a moment of intense eye contact.

Dr. Martinez could have sworn that Fang's apathetic expression softened when he looked at her. Much to Dr. Martinez's displeasure, the tourists peering in through the glass snapped pictures and chatted excitedly.

Dr. Martinez was now right in front of Fang. Max remained in her spot next to Fang.

Dr. Martinez focused on the task at hand; she had to put the electric training bracelets on Fang's wrists.

Fang tensed when Dr. Martinez clapped the first bracelet on his wrist. It fastened on tightly, but not uncomfortably. It could only be removed by the key that Dr. Martinez had in her pocket. The tips of Max's fingertips grazed the tip of Fang's fingertips and he immediately loosened up. His coal black eyes still followed Dr. Martinez's every move.

She clasped the other bracelet around Fang's free wrist and then backed away. Fang irritably rubbed his wrists.

"What are these for?" Fang asked Max. Dr. Martinez listened; frustrated for not being able to speak and understand the mysterious language that Max and Fang spoke in.

Max winced, as if pained by the mere memory. "They were used on me. I was very young. They used it on me during training. When I messed up or did something that upset the humans, those _things_ on your wrists hurt me." Max replied. Fang uselessly tugged at the strange bands on his thin wrists.

"It's no use. Only she can take them off." Max said, by tilting her head to Dr. Martinez. "But you won't get hurt once if you just do what I do. I understand what the whistle means."

Fang didn't say anything. Max hoped that he'd listen to her.

There was a short twittering from the whistle. That meant that Max was supposed to walk into the center of the 'stage' with her wings hidden from view.

"Hide your wings, and follow me." Max whispered. Max walked into the center of the open, grassy area.

Fang stood emotionlessly; resolutely holding his ground.

Max stood stock still, waiting for her next command and hoping with every beat of her heart that Fang would do what he's supposed to do.

Max looked at Dr. Martinez to see if she was going to harm Fang. Dr. Martinez saw Fang's still form, and she looked pained, but determined.

She reached into the pocket of her white lab coat to press the button on the remote that would jolt Fang with a hundred or so volts of electricity.

She really didn't want to hurt the poor kid, after all, he'd been hurt enough for a lifetime already. His past owners hadn't been exactly kind.

However, she had to do it. It was the only way to train Max, so it was probably the only way to train Fang. Max and Fang were very different; but one thing that they had in common was a sort of fiery defiance. It took a lot of strain and effort to break Max into doing what she was told, but even after that, Max seemed miffed about having to do what she was told. Dr. Martinez just knew that Fang would be the same way.

But it took a good year to whip Max into preforming shape. Jeb was asking the impossible; he wanted a year's worth of training in three days.

Her job was on the line. She had to do this. Even if Fang flat out refused to preform voluntarily, one way or another, Dr. Martinez would force him to do what he was told if it killed her.

Then, Fang took a step forward. Then another. Dr. Martinez watched, trying not to let her jaw go slack as Fang walked calmly and evenly next to Max. She smiled at him and his lips twitched in a strange attempt at a smile. He just hadn't gotten into the habit of smiling.

Max looked at Dr. Martinez; almost as if she was saying 'well, what now?'

Dr. Martinez quickly got a hold of herself and chirped out her next command. Max's wings popped out and she soared upwards, doing tight circles in the air.

Max twittered something at Fang, and to Dr. Martinez's utter amazement, he executed the command flawlessly. Dr. Martinez didn't hesitate to give the next command.

Dr. Martinez noticed that Max would follow the command first, and then Fang would follow her lead. However, these were commands that Max already knew. What would Max do when Dr. Martinez presented the new commands?

Dr. Martinez blew four long blasts on her whistle, and then a short tweet at the end. Max stared at Dr. Martinez dumbly as she slowly glided in circles with Fang above.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fang asked quietly. Max stared blankly. She'd never heard that command before.

Max had a faint memory from many years ago, when she'd first started learning the whistle signals. She remembered watching Dr. Martinez miming out what Max was supposed to do on the ground while Max did whatever Dr. Martinez was acting out in the air. It was almost like an aerial version of charades.

This time, Dr. Martinez stood stiff as a board with her arms tight against her sides. Max looked at Dr. Martinez like she was crazy; but Max stiffened up too and pinned her arms against her sides. She attempted to flap, but her wings weren't built for hovering.

Max assumed that this was the point of the trick and tucked her wings in. This was another stunt-drop. Looking bored, Max dropped until she was a mere few feet above the ground. Within that few feet, Max extended her wings and Fang held his breath.

Max glided only inches above the ground like it was no big deal, and Fang's breath left him in a silent, relieved sigh.

Dr. Martinez grinned. She always knew that Max was very intelligent. Now she was to see if Fang was as skillful as Max when it came to fancy flying.

Fang paused for a moment.

"Come on, Fang." Max said teasingly. "I know that I'm a better flier than you, but at least _try _to outdo me!"

Fang shot her a dirty look and impassively tucked his wings against his back, his arms folded across his chest like he was bored. He had to show Max. He could fly, he would show her.

A few inches above the ground, he spread out his massive black wings. His loose black t-shirt skimmed the top of the lush grass. Even Dr. Martinez could hear the crowd behind the glass as they gasped and chattered excitably about Fang's utter skill.

Max scowled as Fang swooped back up to her height, with a cocky glint in his eye.

Fang looked at her intently, his smug gaze speaking louder than words.

"Shut up." Max growled as Dr. Martinez cheered praises to them in a language that they could not understand.

Fang smiled internally as Max spiraled into her next trick and he followed closely behind.

The next few days flew by, and Max and Fang trained for many hours. They perfected the routine and now, Fang didn't even need Max to translate to see what the whistle blows meant. He knew the routine by heart and could perform it as well as Max.

No one was more elated by this than Dr. Martinez. She was delighted that Fang picked up on the routine so well.

She had lost so much sleep over the horrible thought of Fang being uncooperative and being unable to do the show. If that were to happen, she would lose her job, which she needed desperately to support herself and her daughter Ella. If she lost her job, Max would be assigned to a new trainer and would probably not cooperate with, then she would be killed or even _forced_ to breed with Fang only to have her newborn snatched away to be trained to be the new star of the park.

That sort of nightmare haunted what little sleep she got nowadays.

At least Fang showed no signs of killing Max. Dr. Martinez observed them on the monitors in the lab all hours of the day.

Mostly, they flew together. They seemed to love flying with each other. So far nothing _heated_ had occurred yet; Much to Dr. Martinez's relief.

However, other times, Fang almost seemed to be teaching Max how to fight in hand to hand combat. Dr. Martinez was about to regrettably call Ari and his cronies to come and take Fang away because it looked like Fang was attacking Max.

Dr. Martinez momentarily studied the monitor a bit closer and she saw that Max was grinning and Fang looked as impassive as ever but was purposefully softening his blows to where they would cause no pain. It was almost like two baby lions play fighting; there was no harm intended.

They were indeed the strangest mutants that she'd ever encountered and without a doubt, she believed that they were quite the opposite of birds in human skins. They were intelligent people with wings.

She just wished that she knew what they were saying.

It was now the day of the first show. It was no longer 'the Maximum Ride show'. It was now 'The Max and Fang show'. Jeb thought that it had a wonderful ring to it, but Dr. Martinez silently thought that she'd seen more creative names in children's storybooks.

Max walked silently next to Fang, who was extremely tense. Ari and his heavily muscled goons 'escorted' Max and Fang to the theatre, where the show was about to take place.

Ari had obviously not forgotten his first encounter with Fang because he made sure to give Fang an extra brutal shove into the backstage area before slamming the door and locking it behind him.

Dr. Martinez appeared and steered Max off. Fang's dark eyes hardened. He didn't know what was going on. Max didn't have time to explain.

He followed Dr. Martinez and Max.

"Fang, you have to stay here." Dr. Martinez said sternly to Fang. She had to avert her eyes from his smoldering gaze. She sighed. He was like an overprotective boyfriend. Dr. Martinez got sick at the thought.

"I'm not going to hurt her." Dr. Martinez sighed. Fang showed no signs of comprehension.

Max turned her head to look at him.

"It's fine. I always leave before a show. I'll be back." Max said reassuringly to Fang.

Reluctantly, he stepped backwards and leaned against a wall.

Dr. Martinez and Max walked into the dressing room and closed the door behind them. Dr. Martinez took a stack of clean clothes and undergarments off the bureau. She handed them to Max.

Max routinely took the stack of clean clothes and stepped behind a curtain to change. Dr. Martinez smiled as she remembered the days that it took to teach Max how to dress herself. Max was three years old then. She also had to teach Max how to stay still when she was putting on her makeup.

A moment later, Max put the dirty clothes and immediately sat down in the swiveling chair in front of the mirror like she'd been doing it her whole life. Mostly, she had been.

Dr. Martinez precariously applied eyeliner, eye-shadow, clear lipgloss and some light blush on Max's face. Max was already stunning and required little makeup to create the intended effect. Thankfully, Max's nose had completely healed from her little 'encounter' with Ari.

Max stood up and walked out of the door. She'd done the exact same thing for years; she knew what she was supposed to do next.

Dr. Martinez followed Max out of the room. When she got to the room backstage, he had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing.

Fang's expression was just priceless.

Normally, his expression was blank. Now, his expression wasn't really blank, it could be described more as 'dumbstruck'. Of course, he immediately recovered himself and tried not to stare, but she knew that Fang noticed how amazingly… different Max looked.

Fang didn't need a new set of clothes, he looked clean, surprisingly.

She would give him a new set of clothes for tomorrow's shows and she prayed that she wouldn't have to teach _him _how to dress himself. However, with him being covered in filth and living in a dog crate his whole life, the chances of that weren't looking too optimistic.

Then, it was time for them to go on stage. Dr. Martinez gently prodded Max forward, signaling that it was show time. She and Fang exchanged looks and stepped forward on to the stage, with their wings carefully concealed behind their backs.

They stared blankly and expressionlessly at the audience. There was the usual muttering from the extra-large crowd.

Then, Dr. Martinez stepped out on to the stage and gave the whistle cue for them to expand their wings and take off.

The crowd gasped and shrieked at the awesome sight.

Max and Fang twirled looped, dove and shot past each other with narrow precision. They executed moves that were so graceful that it stunned Dr. Martinez.

Fang and Max just flew past each other at an amazing speed and Fang's feathers lightly brushed against Max's.

Dr. Martinez then voiced over their spectacular performance, explaining facts and cracking jokes. Finally, it was the grand finale. They flew as high as the ceiling would allow. Then, they dive bombed to the ground, and used their wings at the last possible moment for an incredible and nimble landing.

The crowd roared in approval and stood up. It had been a while since the show got a standing ovation.

Dr. Martinez couldn't help but notice That Fang was holding Max's hand and her blush was a lot more prominent than usual.

"Kiss him, Max!" shouted one person in the audience.

"Yeah!" shouted another.

Soon, there was a thunderous chant of 'KISS!'

Dr. Martinez rolled her eyes at the audience's stupidity. Were they not listening when she explained that they didn't understand English?

Dr. Martinez ate her words that day; because Fang looked at Max, and he kissed her, right on the mouth.

The crowd was so loud, that it shook the walls of the building and their stomps of approval made the stage shake. The flashes from the cameras were blinding. But the fact that Max and Fang _kissed_…when they were told to _in English_ by complete strangers baffled Dr. Martinez the most. They'd never rehearsed that.

Max and Fang bowed a few times, something they _had_ practiced, and the crowd hollered even louder when Max and Fang turned to leave, only to find Fang's wing wrapped around Max's back.

Dr. Martinez told the crowd to fill out survey cards for the new show and turn them in at any kiosk in the park to receive a free, limited edition, Max and Fang ball-cap.

The security guards made sure that all of the tourists had left the building, and then Dr. Martinez walked backstage, only to be confronted by the owner of the park himself, Jeb Batchelder.

"I saw the show, and it was marvelous, if I do say so myself. Excellent work, Dr. Martinez. Oh, and I also have a certain… wardrobe change that I want in effect immediately. Fang is great the way he is, but Max needs a new…image." Jeb said.

Dr. Martinez didn't protest. She'd just secured her job for now, she didn't need to jeopardize it farther by arguing with the boss. So what, maybe it was just a new t-shirt design that Max was supposed to wear. Who knows, maybe she is actually going to wear shoes now.

Dr. Martinez nodded with an obedient 'yes, sir'. Before, once again, leading Max to the dressing room.

She saw Fang in the background, looking like he did before the show started, like he didn't want Max out of his sight. Unfortunately, when Fang tried to follow Max, Jeb had to intervene.

"Hey, Ari, take this one back to it's enclosure. Then you can escort miss Max back to the enclosure after he little… 'wardrobe change'. Oh, and close off the public viewing for today. I predict that there will be some activity that may be inappropriate for some viewers." Jeb chuckled. Before Dr. Martinez could ask what the big deal was, she saw the clothes. Or at least, if they could even be called clothes.

There was a light blue shirt that was cut so low, that Dr. Martinez wouldn't let Ella even think about wearing it. Then, there were the shorts, which were so tiny, that she thought that they were denim underwear. Then, there was the lingerie. It was so outrageous, a disgraceful dark red with a black lacy trim that Dr. Martinez would've gone into cardiac arrest before letting Ella wear it.

Jeb seriously expected Max to wear _this_? Oh, this was so not going to happen. Not while she was still standing. There was no way _on earth_ that Max was going to wear that.

Muttering murderous threats under her breath, Dr. Martinez managed to blow out the 'stay here' command on the whistle before storming out of the room.

Max could hear Dr. Martinez shouting at Jeb, saying words like 'inappropriate' and 'despicable'. Max walked up to the dresser where Dr. Martinez always grabbed Max's clothes, mildly curious.

What she saw were new clothes. Max assumed that she was supposed to put them on, since they were in the spot where her clothes usually were placed. She had already changed once today and wondered why they wanted her to change again, but things had been weird all week, so she changed into the clothes behind the curtain.

The first thing that she noticed was that the shorts were way too tight for her liking. And there wasn't much material. It was much less coverage than she was used to. She felt the same way about the shirt. She scowled at herself in the mirror. The shirt was so low that you could see the black lace trim of her strange new bra.

She loathed these clothes. She was about to change back into her old clothes, no matter what the consequences were, but the door opened before she could do anything.

Jeb and Dr. Martinez walked in.

"Look, see? She's already dressed. She loves it. Now Ari, take her back to the Aviatory and Make sure that there are no tourists in the viewing window." Jeb said. Dr. Martinez looked at Jeb furiously.

"You honestly expect her to wear that? Do you honestly expect for the tourists to approve of this? Do you think that the board of directors would agree with this?" Dr. Martinez hissed as Ari and two of his beefy thugs walked into the room.

Ari wolf whistled and his goons sniggered.

"Man, does she look smokin'! Too bad that she has to be knocked up by that other one. Plus, she's a freak." Ari chuckled.

"My dear, naïve Dr. Martinez. I have already brought this up and it took a little…persuasion for them to agree, but they did agree to this. And as for the tourists… at least the men will enjoy the show." Jeb smirked coolly.

Dr. Martinez was bright red, livid. Before she could retort, Ari was already forcing Max out of the room. Dr. Martinez followed closely behind Ari, making sure that he didn't try to do anything cute with Max.

Max was shoved into the Aviatory. She was about to go and hide, because for some reason, she felt embarrassed. She hated this outfit, and what if Fang saw her? She didn't have a clue about what he'd do.

She turned toward the Aviatory to find herself face to face with Fang. And he looked mildly interested, meaning that he was so stunned, that he was about to fall over.

This day was just… perfect.

**Well, I made it extra-long and a little humorous or an attempt at humor. Sorry, it was a filler, but necessary all the same. Well, if you want the next, super amazing chapter within a reasonable time, then REVIEW.**


	9. The Alternative

**Currently at the time, I have 27 reviews for the last chapter and it nearly brought me to tears of bliss. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I just felt bad because a lot of them were from anonymous reviewers and people who blocked the PM thing on their account, so I couldn't reply to them. I really, really want to. But, for those of you that I CAN'T reply to, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH!**

**Disclaimer: zzzzz…. (Shh, the disclaimer is sleeping…)**

**Chapter 9: The Alternative**

Fang looked at Max, as emotionlessly as possible. This was probably the hardest that he'd ever tried to be unemotional, because He felt like gaping in shock.

Here was Max, wearing a little more covering than a lingerie model. She looked like a deer in the headlights of a truck.

Fang fought admirably to keep his eyes at Max's face, but his dark eyes just drifted a little lower.

Max crossed her arms across her chest; covering the lower part of the V-neck of her shirt. She really, really despised these clothes. They were uncomfortable, and she was cold from the lack of covering that these new clothes had. Not to mention that she hated the way she felt in these clothes when Fang looked at her.

She didn't like the exposed feeling. She felt guilty for some reason too, but she had done nothing wrong.

"So, what are you standing around staring at me for? Let's fly." Max snapped without meaning too. She just hated being looked at like that. Especially by Fang. She was used to people staring at her from living in an amusement park most of her life, but she never felt so… open.

Fang could have said a lot of things. Most of them would have earned him a hard smack in the face courtesy of Max. However, he did what he does best and remained silent. He nodded.

Without looking back, Max took off into the air leaving Fang on the emerald hued grass. She was glad to be out of his line of sight. It was like he was dissecting her with his eyes or something.

Fang took off, steadily flying until he was next to Max. They flew silently together in wide loops around the perimeter of the Aviatory. Strange enough, there were no tourists eyeing them from behind the protective glass wall.

Fang kept looking over at her, unable to keep his eyes off of her. She was like an exceptionally powerful magnet, constantly drawing his attention to her.

"Stop looking at me like that." Max said sharply. Fang snapped his gaze away. As far as he knew, he wasn't doing anything wrong, but it just felt like it.

After a minute of silence and Fang carefully not looking at Max, she looked up at the transparent dome ceiling to see what time of day it was. The sun was almost completely set, and night was about to fall.

"The park is now closed. If you haven't left yet, please make your way to the exit at the front of the park. Thank you for visiting the Freak Fest, and we hope to see you again soon!" The eerily cheery voice said from the speakers all around the park.

Max dived down above her 'nest' tree, and landed carefully in the uttermost branches. Much to her surprise, Fang landed next her.

"What do you want?" Max said, trying to keep the irritability out of her voice. She'd had a really long, embarrassing day and she really wanted to just go to sleep. The only good thing about it was the fact that she and Fang kissed at the end of the show.

Max sat down on a limb, purposefully looking in the direction opposite of where Fang was. He sat down next to her. She scooted over, farther away from him. She didn't feel his onyx eyes bore into her once. He was purposefully looking in the other direction too.

"I liked your other clothes better." Fang said at last. Max forgot that she wasn't supposed to look at him, and peered over at him.

"Me too. I just really, really hate this. I wish that I didn't have to wear it. I'm freezing." Max said. Somehow, she felt lighter, as if a weight were lifted off of her chest. She couldn't explain why she felt this way. She also felt like she was still walking on thin ice; one wrong step and she would fall, fall, fall down.

Without a word, Fang threw Max for a loop. Now it was her turn to hide her surprise. Fang had taken his baggy black shirt off.

Max felt like a trespasser as she looked at his bare skin. He wasn't nearly as thin as the day that he'd first gotten to the park. In fact, you could barely see his ribs. He was still unnaturally thin, but had lean muscle too. Like a long distance runner that hasn't eaten for a few days.

He handed her his shirt.

She knew that he could get into a lot of trouble by doing that. She remembered in her really early days at the park, before Dr. Martinez was there when she had to learn that she was required to wear clothes at all times. She was severely punished when she disobeyed. She only disobeyed once, and she was very, very little then. All that she remembered of the punishment was unbearable, burning pain.

She never disobeyed that rule again.

She didn't want Fang to be punished too.

She tried to hand the shirt back, but Fang refused it.

"You keep it; you could get in a lot of trouble for that." Max said.

"I'll take my chances." Fang said simply. Max reluctantly slid Fang's shirt over the one that she was wearing; instantly feeling warmer and drowsier. She also felt blissful at Fang's musky scent that lingered on his shirt.

"Thanks." She said. Fang nodded. His shirt covered up her micro shorts. Max curled up on a branch, her eyes drooping.

"G-night Fang." Max mumbled, unable to remain awake any longer. Her eyes shut and she was asleep.

"Good night, Max." Fang said. He kissed her forehead and stood up. Max smiled faintly in her sleep, and he wondered whether she was really asleep. He took off, his great black wings soaring off silently in the twilight.

"Dr. Martinez, do you realize that it has been over a week since the premiere of 'The Max and Fang show'?" Jeb said quietly.

His cold blue eyes bored into Dr. Martinez's light brown ones. The gray peppered in his short blond hair seemed more prominent along with the wrinkles on his forehead from scowling so much.

"Yes, Mr. Batchelder. I am well aware of that. It has also been a week since you changed Max's outfit into those dreadful hooker clothes." Dr. Martinez replied coolly. Her eyes remained in contact with her boss's, her gaze steady and unwavering.

"Oh, good. Then you realize how serious this matter is. Fang is simply refusing to breed with Max." Jeb stated.

_Good boy. I'm proud of him._ Dr. Martinez thought. Max had refused to take off Fang's shirt and expose that horrible shirt that she was forced to wear, and Dr. Martinez didn't quite like the idea of Fang being shirtless constantly in front of Max, so she gave him another black shirt.

Fang had seemed to warm up to Dr. Martinez, well, as 'warmed up' as Fang was probably going to get with anyone besides Max. He cooperated as long as he was near Max. He was getting used to her going off to get her makeup put on before the shows, but Dr. Martinez could still see that his eyes were constantly trained on her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. She really was in good hands.

He also gave her space. He left to his own tree to sleep at night and they only kissed; nothing more and it never got excessive.

Dr. Martinez had her doubts about Fang in the beginning, but she could truthfully believe that now, he was the greatest thing that happened to Max.

She was much happier now that Fang was there. Max also acted more human than she had ever before. The tourists absolutely worshiped Max and Fang, giving them a couple nickname like people give to celebrity couples. They were called 'Fax' by adoring fans around the country, and even the globe.

Max and Fang sort of were celebrities. They were in a number of local newspaper articles, and were once featured in a popular magazine. They were in the new commercial for the Freak Fest amusement park and were even on the news a few times. Max and Fang were indeed well known.

They were very talented and significantly good-looking as far as mutants went. They were as well-known as real celebrities in Hollywood. Jeb was overjoyed by this. However, it just wasn't enough for Jeb. Jeb wanted more. A bird-human family is what he wanted. It would most definitely grab the most attention. The show was already so popular, that they had to organize three shows a day.

But Jeb was just too greedy for his own good. There was nothing that he could do if Fang refused to breed with Max. Fang was a great boyfriend for Max, Dr. Martinez couldn't have dreamed up a better one. So why was she so uneasy about this emergency meeting that Jeb had called her into his office for?

"I gave you more than enough time to get them to breed, but they won't. I haven't seen _anything_ above kissing. Even after Max got her new wardrobe. Truthfully, I don't understand. I regret to say, but I've taken matters into my own hands." Jeb said; a curious look in his eyes.

Dr. Martinez leaned forward in the expensive mahogany chair that she was sitting in.

"And how, I wonder, are you planning to do that. Frankly, I'm curious." Dr. Martinez said with a sharp edge in her voice.

"Well, since _Fang_ won't breed with her, I just had to work around that. Just my luck, I've found his replacement. This one will most definitely breed. I found him at a little prostitution place in Phoenix and I easily persuaded his owners to hand him over to me." Jeb said coolly, as he leaned back in his chair and lit a new cigar.

Dr. Martinez was confused.

"Why are you speaking in riddles? I'm a doctor, not a philosopher!" Dr. Martinez said, trying very hard to keep the exasperation from invading her voice.

"Ah, yes. You're absolutely right. I'll make it easy for you to understand. Doctors like live specimens, right?" Jeb said as he snapped his fingers. The snap seemed to echo in the spacious room. Then, Ari came bursting in through the door with two other guards, who were hauling something that Dr. Martinez couldn't see.

Then, Ari dragged whatever it was into plain view. It was a teenager. Granted he was tall and handsome in a pretty-boy, California beach boy way. His hair was longish, but not as long as Fang's. His blue eyes were the color of the clear Caribbean waters. He was well-built, like a football player. He struggled against Ari and the other two guards' grip.

"I still don't understand." Dr. Martinez said flatly.

_Finally, all of the money, the alcohol, and those stupid cigars have gone to Jeb's head. He's lost it._ Dr. Martinez thought wryly.

"Quite right, Dr. Martinez." Jeb said. "Ari," Jeb started, but he didn't have to finish.

The struggling blond, beach boy twittered just like a bird. Just like Max. Just like Fang.

Oh, God.

Dr. Martinez didn't bother to keep her jaw from going slack.

"But…he…he can't be a…a… that's impossible! You saw all of them! You bought all of them! Okay, maybe one you didn't see, but two? IMPOSSIBLE!" Dr. Martinez cried, on the verge of hysteria. That boy couldn't be a… it was impossible. Even more impossible than a living, breathing human with wings.

Then, Ari did what he was supposed to do, and that was the deathblow for Dr. Martinez.

Ari seized something from behind the boy, who appeared to be around Fang's age, maybe a little older. Dr. Martinez felt her heart stop cold I her chest.

Ari stepped back still clutching on to something. Then, a few backward paces later, he stopped, grinning maliciously.

Ari had pulled out a wing; a large, pure white, broad wing. This boy had wings.

"He will replace Fang. Since Fang refuses to breed, this one will. He knows exactly what he's doing, because he's done it many times before." Jeb chuckled.

Dr. Martinez was still paralyzed at the sight of this boy's enormous wings. They had to be bigger than Max's wings. They were probably bigger than Fang's wings.

"Don't worry; you don't have to train him yet. He's just for breeding purposes now. Fang and Max can still preform, but this one will breed." Jeb said clearly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Dr. Martinez wasn't worried that she'd have to train this boy, because that was the least of her problems. She'd gotten lucky with Max and Fang falling in love and not taking the relationship too far. There was no way to avoid it now. This blond prostitute bird-teen would rape Max, she'd get pregnant, and her world would crumble to pieces. Fang might even hate her for betraying him. He was capable of doing much worse.

Dr. Martinez tried to say something in protest, but her throat had gone dry. It was over. It was really over. Max would be more miserable than she'd ever been before.

"What's his name?" Dr. Martinez croaked. Not like she cared. That was the only thing that she'd managed to say.

Jeb smiled.

"That's the spirit! I knew that you'd come around!" Jeb said, grinning around his smoking cigar. The boy struggled even more, but couldn't shake Ari's grip.

Jeb spoke again. "His name is Dylan."

**Okay, a semi-cliffy but… it was better than the last chapter in my opinion. I just wanted to thank you so much for reviewing in the past. The reviews were the only thing that inclined me to update today, so if you review… I'll update again, and it's WAY MORE SHOCKING than this chapter, let me tell you! So REVIEW! NOW! Yes, you! **


	10. Overpowered and Helpless

**Some of you are just so funny. Really I love to hear from you. I HAVE 34 REVIEWS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER! YAAAYYY! Thank you guys so much. I'll keep my word and update again today. **

**Disclaimer- The disclaimer is on sick leave and will be back soon. **

**Chapter 10: Overpowered and Helpless**

"You might as well knock her out and use a turkey baster to get her pregnant." Dr. Martinez fumed. "It would save you all of this trouble.

"Yes, I thought about that, but with all of the recent publicity, the press is bound to find out about it. It would be considered a scandal! The world would boycott the park in protest! I'd be ruined! This way is 'the natural way'. That would be more appealing to the public." Jeb replied smoothly in a businesslike manner, like this was a simple subject.

Oh, but it was quite the opposite of simple. The world as everyone knew it would come crashing down in a matter of minutes.

"Ari," Jeb said, making sure that his beefy son and his thugs were in position. The thugs behind the Examination room door were ready too.

Currently, Jeb, Dr. Martinez, Ari, and two of Ari's goons were in the Examination room; with the wall separating the Aviatory from the Examination room retracted completely into the ceiling.

"Dr. Martinez, if you would do the honors." Jeb said quietly.

Dr. Martinez's hand was shaking as she took the little silver whistle from around her neck and raised it up to her mouth. She really didn't want to do this. Max would never trust her again. And what little trust Fang had in her would be completely gone, forever.

"Did you forget how to blow the whistle?" Jeb asked. Dr. Martinez scowled and wanted to say a few choice words to him about what exactly she could do with that whistle, but kept her mouth shut.

She firmly put the whistle in her mouth and blew in it a few times. It meant 'Come'.

Dr. Martinez was a tough woman. It took a lot to make her cry; but she was tearing up as she heard the flapping of their huge wings and the birdlike twittering of Max and Fang's speech that only bird-humans could understand. She was betraying them, and leading Max into a mess that would ruin her life.

Max and Fang walked into the Examining room, Max's mouth quirked up in a smirk and Fang was as stoic as ever. Then they saw the group of people waiting for them. Max stepped backward and turned to run and Fang was in a fighting stance, challenging anyone to take him on. He wouldn't let _anyone_ near Max.

Then, Max saw Fang, and got into fighting stance too. Fang chirped at Max sharply. Max twittered back with a shadow of determination in her voice.

Fang had said, "No, go. I'll cover for you, and you take off and get into the air. I'll follow."

"I can handle myself! We'll both fight, and take off when it's clear." Max retorted. Fang was emotionless, but Max could tell that he wasn't happy. He wanted to make sure that she was safe.

"Hey," Max barked at him. His head snapped to her attention. His long shaggy black bangs swished over his obsidian eyes.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I had a great teacher." Max said in a softer tone. Fang gave her one of those half-smiles of his that made her world a little bit brighter.

A loud snap penetrated through the moment. Jeb had loudly snapped his fingers and Ari grinned wolfishly as he cracked his knuckles and lumbered toward Max and Fang. His two goons followed. Ari reached into his pocket and pulled something that Max and Fang couldn't see. It had to be really small.

The guards walked closer and closer, finally, one good lunged toward Fang. Fang sidestepped and Max swiped his offending arm away with a swift kick. Another good tried to swipe Fang's feet and knock him over, but Fang jumped up and kicked the guy in the chest, then used the impact as a springboard and twirled backwards in an aerial flip before landing on his feet and smirking.

The guy that Fang had kicked was sprawled out on the floor, gasping for breath, but moaning about the ribs that Fang had broken.

Both Ari and the other guard charged at Fang, the nameless guard diving to take out Fang's feel and Ari spread his beefy arms out at neck level so to grab Fang in a death grip.

Max noticed that the guards weren't attacking her at all. They wanted Fang. Max was too busy deciding which guy to tackle before they harmed Fang to notice that the goon on the ground.

The stooge on the ground had silently flicked out a switchblade and in a flash of stainless steel; he sliced a cut into Max's right calf. Max yelped in surprise in pain. The cut wasn't too deep, but would require a stitch or two.

Max's cry of pain made Fang involuntarily look over at her to make sure that she was alright. That was all that Ari needed. Ari seized Fang and pinned his arms to his sides. Fang violently struggled, but Ari tightened his grip like a python every time Fang moved. The other guy who lunged at Fang's feet stood up, grinning devilishly as He grabbed on to Fang's legs. Fang couldn't stay standing with the weight of two huge burly men clinging on to him.

Fang tilted and crashed on to the ground, smacking his head on to the hard cement floor. Fang had double vision. The room was spinning and there was a blinding pain on the back of his head where he had crashed on it against the floor. Fang struggled as much as he could, despite the pain in his head. Ari had moved aside so now only the other hefty guard was keeping him pinned to the floor. What was Ari about to do?

Fang knew one thing, if he so much as touched Max, he was going to wish that he was never born. Fang looked over at Max. The cut on her leg was dripping blood, but other than that, she was fine. Well, except for the fact that the guard that Fang had knocked over was now making sure that Max didn't get any closer to Fang.

The guard was only acting defensively and wasn't attacking Max. Then, it hit Fang like a train. They didn't want Max, they wanted him. And that was fine by him, as long as Max didn't get hurt in the process.

"Max," Fang managed. "Go, leave! They don't want you, they want me! Go!"

"No!" Max growled. "I'm not leaving you!" Max made a frantic swipe at the guard that was blocking her from reaching Fang, but he only blocked her blow.

"You have to, I can handle myself!" Fang said, mimicking her words from before. "I'll catch up later, just go!" Fang shouted.

Max turned around to flee, which she hated, but Fang wouldn't take no for an answer. No one tried to stop her as she ran to the woods in the Aviatory. She looked back at Fang to see Ari jab something into Fang's struggling arm. Fang struggled for a moment more, and then went slack.

She was about to run back to get Fang, but the wall separating the Aviatory from the Examination room was rapidly closing. Max sprinted to the Examination room, but it was too late. The wall slammed shut.

She beat against the wall, furious with herself. How could she have just left him? She should have stayed and tried to free him! She felt like she had betrayed him. She would never forgive herself if anything went wrong.

Then, a thought crossed her mind. Maybe it was just a check-up. Dr. Martinez had to knock her out to do some examinations. Maybe that's what they were doing to Fang now. Max could only wait to see if Fang would emerge.

Max took off and flew to the waterfall, a place where they both enjoyed. It was the first place that they had really talked to one another. It was the first place where had they kissed.

She would wait for Fang there.

Meanwhile, back in the Examination room, Fang was truly unconscious.

"That was enough tranquilizer to put an elephant to sleep for an hour. That should keep him quiet and stop him from interfering for a few hours at least." Jeb said gloatingly. Sure, like he'd done anything. Dr. Martinez is the one who prepared the tranquilizer dart. It was a tiny dart, yes, but it would keep Fang asleep for at least four hours. That was more than enough time for Dylan to come in and destroy Max's life.

Ari and his two beat up guards stood up. Ari kicked Fang brutally in the ribs when he thought that no one was looking.

"Now, tell the guards out in the hall that they can bring him in." Jeb said quickly to Ari. Ari marched out the door. In a moment, he returned with two different guards hot on his tail, hauling Dylan behind them. Dylan was struggling, but watched with cold, calculating eyes as the wall retracted into the ceiling and he could see out into the Aviatory. Dylan merely glanced at Fang's dark, unconscious form before looking at the Aviatory once more.

The guards let Dylan loose and without a second thought, Dylan sprinted out the door. He already knew where Max was. It was like he could _sense_ her presence. He just _knew_ that she was by the waterfall.

"I think that you can handle matters from here, Dr. Martinez. Ari and the rest of the guards will be in the lounge and I will be in my office. Just watch him to see if he stirs. If he does, which won't happen; just give him another shot of tranquilizer." Jeb said.

"Yeah, that would be wonderful. If I did that, he might never wake up! This is _elephant_ tranquilizer! I didn't even want to use this stuff. Besides, let him wake up. Maybe he'll help Max." Dr. Martinez murmured, out of Jeb's range of hearing.

Without another word, Jeb strode out of the room with his muscular posy of guards following him close behind; Ari included.

Dr. Martinez watched Fang, feeling worse than she had in a long time.

Fang's eyes darted restlessly and occasionally, he's twitter something and for the millionth time, Dr. Martinez wished that she understood his language.

Meanwhile, in the Aviatory, Dylan had found the waterfall and saw Max, staring at the waterfall crashing into the pool below it.

"Nice view, isn't it?" Dylan said to Max, striding into the open. Max's head whipped around. Her blond streaks shone into the afternoon sun.

"Who are you?" Max asked in a voice harsher than she'd intended.

"I'm Dylan." He replied, now standing right in front of her. He was wearing a blue shirt that fit him tightly and showed off his flawless muscles. He wore loose fitting blue jeans. He too was also barefooted. Max forced herself not to stare or to let her jaw drop in amazement.

This Dylan guy was _gorgeous_. His sandy blond hair was perfectly shaggy and not overly unkempt. It looked like he messed it up on purpose, and it looked amazing. He had faultless bronze skin and his Caribbean blue eyes were open and perfectly readable, unlike Fang's emotionless, dark eyes.

"I… uh, why can I understand you?" Max said, feeling stupid for stuttering like that. Her cheeks turned the lightest shade of pink.

"I don't know. Maybe because of this." Dylan said. He rolled his shoulders back and two massive, broad white wings came into view. He had _wings_.

"Could… could you turn around?" Max asked faintly. She was so mixed up with her emotions that she couldn't even think straight.

Dylan turned around slowly. Max saw that the gigantic white wings were definitely attached to his back. He was a real bird-teen. Fang wasn't the only one like her after all. But the real question was; what was Dylan doing here?

"Why are you here?" Max asked him, melting into his beautiful blue eyes. She liked how he wasn't hiding anything from her. He was like an open book. It was a nice change from what she was used to. "Are you a new addition to the show?"

"Well," Dylan started as he sat down on the same boulder that Max was currently seated on. "I'm here for you."

Before Max could even process that statement, Dylan was on top of her.

"Hey!" Max protested as she struggled. She couldn't wriggle free. Yes, she was amazingly strong, but he wasn't a human. He was an avian-human too; and he was a lot stronger than she was. He was built for brawn, and she was built for flight. She fought as hard as she could but Dylan had her arms pinned to the grassy ground, and he kept her legs still.

"What do you think you're doing? Let me go!" Max shouted. Dylan smiled, flashing his unflawed white teeth in a sneer. It was horrible. "No. You're mine. All mine." Dylan whispered. He started to un do the button on her shorts as he forced his mouth on to hers. She rammed her head on to his and He growled curses at her, but stopped kissing her.

That's when Max screamed.

**I'm sorry. I would've written more, but I'm really tired. I'm falling asleep as I type this. I'll update ASAP. Please, I'll update again if you guys review. **


	11. The Plan Goes Amiss

**Due to torture threats courtesy of AmyQueen95, I have updated sooner than I ever have before. Plus, I've had 49 other reviews asking me to update. This is off topic, but who's heard the new Paramore song 'Monster'? I really like it. I'll admit, it sounds different, but I still like it. **

**Again, I apologize to those of you who have disabled your PM feature and those amazing anonymous reviewers. I really wish that I could reply to you guys, because I reply to every review and feel bad because I can't thank you guys for reviewing, so here, THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**Disclaimer: The disclaimer has been evicted. **

**Chapter 11: The Plan Goes Amiss**

Dr. Martinez cringed at the sound of Max's scream of frustration and fear. She was sweating, deciding on what to do next. This was Max, her daughter in all but blood, and she was in horrible trouble. If she tried to save Max, not only would the surveillance cameras in the Aviatory catch her, but Dylan was an Avian-Human hybrid, who was freakishly strong, even by bird teen standards.

She could shut off the cameras and use tranquilizer on Dylan, but Jeb would know that she had shut off the cameras and put Dylan to sleep. The problem would only be delayed, and she would be fired. Then who knows what would happen to Max, or even Fang.

Fang… he could save Max. Dr. Martinez grinned as she reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a vial of green tinted fluid.

She scowled again. Jeb would know that she woke Fang up if she was in the room. Then, she had a plan. She would quickly inject the adrenaline which would definitely wake Fang up and give him enough energy to lift a house, and then she would leave for the 'restroom'. She would tell Jeb that she honestly didn't expect Fang to wake up, so she went to the restroom. When she would come back, Fang would be gone, rescue Max, and beat the crap out of Dylan for good measure. It was a perfect plan; a flawless plan.

There were no surveillance cameras in the Examination room; Jeb didn't see that it was important enough to put a camera in a room instead of in an exhibit or public place. That would bite him in the butt for being such a cheapskate.

Dr. Martinez filled the injector with the adrenaline and used a little bit of cleansing alcohol on Fang's arm. She injected the adrenaline as quickly as possible and hurriedly left the room. It would take a moment for the adrenaline to reach his heart, especially since he was currently drugged with elephant tranquilizer, which made his heart beat dangerously slow. If Fang ran out of the examination room and Dr. Martinez left the Examination room at the same time, which would seem suspicious.

Dr. Martinez walked as calmly as she could, trying to be a cool and collected as possible considering that she was breaking dozens of rules, regulations and guidelines. Not to mention that Max was being brutally attacked in the Aviatory. It was all up to Fang.

She was so busy on trying to appear as normal as possible, that she broke another vital rule as she left the Examination room without even realizing it, she left the door unlocked.

"Watch where you're going, stupid! You stepped on my toe!" growled a young female voice.

"Right, tell the blind guy to watch where he's going! Aren't you hilarious!" hissed a male voice.

"I'm supposed to be with the others and making sure that they don't get themselves killed! Did you _see_ the size of those security guards? I mean, they look like they're about to snap someone in half! They look really stupid, especially that one leader guard. His name's something like 'Aaron' or 'Kari' or something. What a… " the girl rambled nervously, but was cut off by the boy.

"Well, considering that I'm freaking _blind_, I wouldn't have seen them!" the boy fired back venomously. There was silence for a few minutes. They walked down a few bare white corridors, past doors filled with who knows what.

"Look, Nudge, I'm sorry, okay? Just could you _please_ cut the chattering for a few minutes! I can barely hear the directions." The boy said a little softer. He turned his head back towards the girl that he would never see, was constantly bombarded by her prattling.

_Take another left, and then it's the third door on the right. Then have Nudge pick the lock with her 'gift'. _said a young, female voice in his head.

_Okay, thanks Angel._ The boy thought. He heard the echoes of their footfalls on the marble floor and used the echoes off the walls like echo location. He had superb hearing. At the fork in the hallway, he took a left. Three doors down, then he stopped. They stopped in front of a door that said,

'**FREAK FEST EMPLOYEES ONLY: AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED TO ENTER'**

Below that, in smaller print, it read,

'Danger: Live Animals, Enter With Caution'

And below that, it read in even smaller print,

' Room 624, 'Examination Room'

"Nudge, will you…" the boy began, quietly. Silently, he was waiting to hear unfamiliar footsteps. His excuse was that he was blind and he was trying to find the restroom.

His 'sister', Nudge, who was the cover for the girl next to him, who was trying to get the lock open, had dyslexia, so she couldn't read well. That was their cover story.

If that didn't work, they could always resort to plan B and knock whoever the employee was out and hurry up with the operation.

"Uh, Iggy?" Nudge said, her mousy, curly brunette hair framing her pretty, cappuccino colored, heart shaped face. By looking at her face, she would appear to be eleven years old, but she was freakishly tall, over five and a quarter feet tall. She wore a pleated pink skirt, with white bloomers underneath, a chic white Oxford shirt with a pink denim vest and a matching pink tie. Her shoes sort of ruined her girly, popular schoolgirl look, because her pink high top Converse were spattered with soil.

"Yeah," Iggy said tensely, straining his highly sensitive ears for any indication of intruders.

"I already tried to use my magnetism skill to get the lock to open, but it isn't working, nothing clicked." Nudge complained.

Iggy reached for the cold doorknob. He turned the knob. The door silently cracked open.

"Did you think about checking to see if it was unlocked?" Iggy snickered. Nudge glared into his sightless sky blue eyes. His eyes were sort of cloudy ever since he went blind when he was four. His strawberry blond hair was straight and hung down to the nape of his neck. His bangs covered his forehead and strayed into his eyebrows, sometimes even covering part of his light blue eyes. He was tall, a good few inches over six feet. Like Nudge, he too was tall for his age, fourteen, and was built really thin.

His sneakers were spattered with clay and mud, like he made a habit of running through people's lawns. His gray t-shirt was worn, but so were his blue jeans.

He looked even paler than his usual fair complexion in the luminescent hallway lights.

"Nudge, stand guard and have Angel send me a message if you see anyone. If anyone comes and asks what you're doing, you…" Iggy started as he walked into the room.

"I'll think of something. I'm good at that. I learned from the best." Nudge said while grinning. Iggy smiled back as he partially closed the door.

"Don't close this all the way, I don't want to become part of the exhibit." Iggy said in a slightly sarcastic tone. Nudge shot him a Nazi salute, knowing that he wouldn't see it.

Nudge stood as a lookout while Iggy walked into the room.

From what he could tell, the room was empty, and it wasn't really a 'room' either. Iggy could hear the echoes of his footfalls off of three walls, but that was all. There simply wasn't a fourth wall. Iggy took a step forward; then another. After a few more steps, we walked right through where the fourth wall should be and heard a sound that did _not_ belong in an indoor facility.

He heard a distant crashing waterfall. He felt the warm sun on his skin and he felt soft earth and grass beneath his sneaker. He was outside, but there was one sound that wasn't there. There were no birds. And that's how he knew that he was in the Aviatory.

He, Nudge, and the rest of his family, also known as the Flock, had discussed the Aviatory's layout beforehand. There was a path through the middle to the waterfall. The waterfall is where the bird kids were the most. If they weren't there, then he could always fly up and wait to be met. They would probably notice that there's a new winged kid in the Aviatory.

Iggy walked down the path. That's when he heard the screaming and the sound of a brutal fight; a sound that he knew all too well. Iggy broke into a run.

He ran past trees and cursed when he ran into one. He followed the sound of the waterfall crashing into the pool below. The sound of flesh hitting flesh continued. Iggy was closer and closer until he could hear the fighting as if it were right in front of him.

If he was able to see, he would've seen two bird kids fighting to the death. Farther away, sitting on a rock, he would've seen a girl with brown hair and thick blond streaks running through it. Her clothes were wrinkled and looked like they were half on and half off.

The two fighting boys were like two opposing sides of a magnet; two opposites fighting one another.

One had longish blond hair and an even tan. His perfect white teeth were bared into a snarl. His eyes, his once admirable blue eyes, were now dark, like a stormy sea. Basically, he looked like a stereotypical California beach dude/varsity football player.

The other boy was a lot lighter on his feet and had long ash black hair that partially covered his terrifying, blazing ebony eyes. He was far beyond furious. He was cold and thirsting for blood. He too was tan and was built like a long-distance runner, but wore an expression beyond loathing. His all black clothing added to the terrifying effect.

The blond boy was scary, but the dark one was downright terrifying.

The blond boy swung a punch that would have probably decapitated a human but the dark boy say it coming and ducked, throwing a vicious uppercut to the blond boy's undefended chin. Once the dark boy's fist made contact, the blond boy spat blood and aimed a kick at the dark boy's midsection.

Iggy knew that the dark one had to be Fang, the one he was looking for. His footsteps sounded lighter than the other boy's. He understood Fang to be thin, partially underfed from the descriptions that he was given.

He was never told that there was another bird kid here, well, besides the Maximum Ride herself. She was there, he could hear her breathing.

Why were there two bird boys? Nudge told him that the park was planning on breeding Max and Fang, what did this other boy have to do with anything?

The blond boy was getting beaten, bad. He took one hit after another. When he tried to land a blow on Fang, it was like trying to hit smoke or a shadow; he would always miss and Fang would be somewhere else, throwing powerful punches and kicks.

The blond boy quickly through a punch aimed for Fang's face. Fang swerved to the side and kicked high, the bottom of his foot colliding with the blond boy's chin. The blond boy staggered and fell back, but Fang was relentless.

The blond boy backed up, looking less tough with each step and more fearful. Blood was dripping from the blond one's nose and his mouth. He received a brutal punch to the left side of his face, then swiftly was kicked back. The big blond one stumbled. He turned around and spread out his big pure white wings. He was going to try and flee into the air.

Fang grabbed one of the white wings and with a sickening snap, snapped it in half without a hint of remorse or effort. The blond one gasped in pain, his blue eyes wide and fearful. The blond one's eyes misted over in pain.

Fang kicked the back of the blond boy's knee and he collapsed on the grass; gasping in pain.

To Iggy's utter shock, the blond one twittered like a bird. He had a weird feeling that gave him chills. It was like someone was walking on his grave. He had understood the boy's chirps. He had said:

"No, please!"

The blond boy was begging for his life. Fang looked as cold as ever. Surprisingly, Fang opened his pure black wings with barely a sound and flew up into the sky.

Fang looked down at the blond boy, who was trying to move, but his kneecap had to be shattered from Fang's last blow, so he couldn't. Then, Fang dived down, tucking his wings in. He hurdled headfirst towards the ground.

Then, about twenty or thirty feet above the ground, he turned in midair and was now feet first, aimed straight at the blond boy. The blond boy then realized what was going on and let out a strangled scream of terror, but it was too late.

Fang's aim was deadly accurate. In a fraction of a second, Fang landed precisely on the blond boy's neck, which promptly snapped like a branch of wet wood.

Max, who was quietly shaking during the whole fight, was now staring at the blond boy otherwise known as Dylan's neck, which was now bent at a sickening angle. His face was blank, but his eyes were wide with terror. Then she looked at Fang, who quietly approached her.

Her coco brown eyes shot back and fourth from Dylan's dead body to Fang's approaching figure.

All bloodlust and loathing was gone from his face. It was back to the emotionless face that she had become so accustomed to. His eyes were no longer cold, just devoid of emotion. He was so different from the dark boy who had just killed Dylan, that the Fang who killed Dylan and the Fang walking to her now were almost unrecognizable.

Fang was now right in front of her. She took a step back. Fang stopped. Max continued to slowly move backwards.

Fang looked at her, confusion now evident in his deep, dark eyes.

"Max?" Fang said, his deep voice sounding a lot like the crashing waterfall.

She looked at him, her brown eyes wide and fearful.

"Max, he's gone now. It's just me." Fang said in a slightly softer tone, slowly taking a step forward.

"He's gone…"Max repeated. Fang nodded slightly.

"Yeah, Max. He's gone. He won't bother you again. You're okay now." Fang said.

"You mean he's dead." Max said flatly. She glared at Fang. Fang looked confused again.

"Yeah he's dead. What's wrong?" he asked her.

"What's wrong, oh nothing really," Max spat sarcastically. "Just the fact that I was attacked and it turns out that I've been living with a _murderer_!"

Fang's dark eyes got darker, if possible.

"I didn't murder him, he deserved it. He was going to hurt you." Fang said evenly.

"Oh, so when's it up to you to decide who lives or dies? Yeah, he was going to hurt me, but you didn't have to _kill_ him!" Max shouted. Fang glared at her, the fire his eyes reignited.

"I had to kill him because he would have done it again! He might have acted like he was 'changed' but people never really change." Fang said darkly.

It was quiet, the sound of rushing water piercing through the break in conversation.

"You're right. People never change. You were a murderer in your past, and you still are now. I just wish that I would have learned that sooner, then I would have _never_ saved you from Ari. I should have let you "get what you deserved!" Max said quietly, throwing his own words back in his face.

Max turned and started to leave and Fang stood there as if he had been shot. He wished that he had been, because at least when you were shot, you know that the end is near. This pain wasn't about to end any time soon.

Before the two left for different sides of the Aviatory, Iggy decided to step in.

"This might be a bad time, but I'm here to get you out of here." Iggy said in English. The two bird teens stopped and turned to look at the new guy, who had just popped out of the bushes. They didn't understand a word that he said.

"Umm…"Iggy started as Fang walked over to him. He'd heard what happened to Dylan. He knew that the gut wrenching snap had been when Fang had snapped Dylan's neck. He really didn't want to end up the same way that Dylan did.

"Who are you?" Fang snarled. Iggy head the sounds of chirping coming from Fang's mouth, but understood what it meant. He didn't know why, it was like an old memory from back at his days at the School. Then, it all hit him.

It was the language that they all knew, even though no one taught them. It was like all bird kids were born knowing how to speak it. He hadn't spoken it for many years now. At least, now, he remembered how.

"Sorry," Iggy chirped. Max and Fang looked at him, astonished. They had just heard him say meaningless things and the language of humans, but now he was speaking their language.

Without another word, Iggy spread out his large, seagull-like wings. Max and Fang stared at them.

"I guess that you've figured out that you're not the only ones with wings. I'll explain more later, just hurry. We're getting out of there." Iggy said quickly, tucking his wings back into his shirt. "Follow me."

Max looked at Iggy, and followed him, immensely curious. Fang, seeing that Max was following this strange bird boy, followed her. He knew what had happened with the _last_ strange new bird boy. He didn't want Max to get hurt again.

"By the way," said the strange bird kid as he led them towards the Examination room. "My name's Iggy. Get ready to meet my family. Welcome to the Flock."

**I think that I did an okay job. Please tell me if I did a fair/poor job on this chapter. I'm really unsure about it. REVIEW or you won't see the next chapter!**


	12. How to Escape From the Freak Fest part 1

**I've not updated because of two things that I hate almost as much as Dylan. 1) Writer's block and 2) busy life. I apologize, but this is the first time that I've touched my laptop in the longest time. Please forgive the lateness, even though I really don't deserve it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. There I said it. Don't make me say it again. **

**Chapter 12: How to Escape from the Freak Fest Amusement Park**

Max followed Iggy, all signs of her previous struggle with Dylan obsolete. She eyed Iggy with a strange new curiosity that Fang had never seen on her before; not even when he had arrived into her life.

On the outside, no one would have had even the slightest inclination that Fang cared about the way Max was infatuated with this new bird boy Iggy. However, on the inside, Fang was burning with a scorching heat that could rival hellfire.

He was furious with the Max and how she'd yelled at him when he'd solved the 'Dylan problem'. He was especially enraged with what she'd said to him. She'd never know it, but what she'd said had hurt him far worse than any other injury that he'd ever sustained from all of his years as a mutant fighter and his few weeks at Freak Fest. The way that Max was intently staring at the new bird boy who spoke both their language and the language of humans really threw gasoline into the fire.

Fang was smoldering with malevolence as he silently stalked behind Max as she unabashedly followed Iggy with an uncharacteristic interest and occasionally asked her a question. Fang was too angry to comprehend what Iggy and Max were saying, but Iggy said something and Max's musical laugh trilled and Fang's vision was tinged with red.

He was almost as angry as he was when he shamelessly gave Dylan what he deserved. It was like a starving, bloodthirsty lion was trapped in Fang's chest and was trying to rip and claw its way out to ravage anyone in its way. However, Fang remained as emotionless as ever, following ten paces behind Max and Iggy.

Iggy said something incomprehensible to Max and she giggled. Fang almost lost it. He was the only one who was supposed to make Max laugh like that. He'd saved her from a terrible fate and this is what he got for doing it, she was hamming it up with some random blind winged guy who they'd never met before and they were following him, believing every word that he said. What if he was lying? So what if he was like them. Dylan was like them and just look at how well that turned out.

Iggy ran into the Examination Room with Max hot on his heels. Fang followed them like an angry shadow, silent, but radiating with contempt.

Then, Iggy opened the door and Max exclaimed in wonder. He didn't get shocked or electrocuted. Only humans could pass through the door's threshold without getting electrocuted into unconsciousness.

Fang distrusted Iggy even more now. Iggy could not only talk like humans _and_ speak in his and Max's tongue, but he could also pass through forbidden places with no consequences? Something was definitely wrong with that blind boy. Fang didn't trust him. Iggy was probably going to lead them to their deaths.

Then, Fang heard a high pitched voice jabbering away in the language of the humans. On pure instinct, he turned around and had the strange speaker by the throat before she could utter another sound.

Fang looked at the girl that he had in his grasp. She had shoulder length curly hair and a skin tone far darker that his, Max's or that intruder Iggy's. Her eyes were darker brown than Max's, but weren't nearly as dark or as cold as his. She was also shorter than any of them. She only came up to his elbow.

She wasn't dressed like a whitecoat, but she was dressed like a human. Iggy frantically told her something in rapid fire human and the girl slouched her shoulder's forward. He tightened his grip, ready for some sort of trick. Her breathing became shallower and she gasped for air, but Fang immediately slackened his grip after he saw what she'd done. She'd partially opened up her tawny brown wings.

_How many of us are there_. Fang thought warily.

"Put her down! She can't breathe!" snapped Iggy. Fang glared at the blind boy and silently wondered how he'd known that Fang was choking the little bird girl. He still didn't let her go. Just because she was a mutant didn't mean that she was harmless. It could mean quite the opposite.

"Fang, put her down!" Max said impatiently. She rolled her brown eyes. "I always knew that you were low but now you're killing little winged girls like us too? I don't know why I'm surprised. What do you expect from a cold blooded _murderer_." Max spat.

Fang's gaze was murderous as he dropped the winged girl who fell to her knees, gasping for air and gently massaging around her neck where bruises were sure to form.

Iggy hurried to the new bird girl's side and sad a few things to her in English.

"They only speak in Avian. Nudge, I know it was a long time ago, but remember how to speak it." Iggy said to the girl in English. Max stared at them in amazement and Fang glared at Max.

"But I don't…" Nudge began quietly, as she regained her breath and stood up.

"What did you do that for?" Iggy said coldly to Fang. Nudge watched Iggy curiously, her mouth slightly agape. "She didn't do anything to you!"

"She could've been a threat." Fang said simply. Iggy shook his head reproachfully.

"Did you nderstand what we said?" Iggy asked Nudge in English. Nudge was still staring at Fang, partially in fear ant partially in amazement. She nodded quickly.

"Can you do it?" Iggy asked quickly.

Nudge cleared her throat.

"So… I'm Nudge, and… I'm with Iggy. We're her to rescue you. We'll get you away from her. You'll be part of our family, if you want. We don't really have a home, but…" Nudge started, but she'd said it perfectly in Avian. Fang and Max understood every word. Iggy nodded in approval.

"That'll work. Are you sure that you'll be alright?" Iggy asked Nudge. Nudge smirked.

"Of course I'll be fine, we need to get out of here before we get thrown into the next show!" Nudge said in Avian. Max looked at them even more curiously and Fang had half a mind to turn around and stay in the Aviatory. He was safe there, as long as he did what he was told. They fed him and it was nothing like the mutant fighting arena. He had no idea if these strange bird kids were trustworthy.

They probably didn't know what they were doing and were leading themselves to death. He'd fought for life too long and too hard to lose it that easily. There still was Max to think about. She was going and this place would be nothing without her. Then, who knows what would happen to her if he stayed. Things worse than Dylan could await her.

Deep down in his soul, which was still smoldering, but now flickering with a new emotion that was growing in strength, he knew that he had to be with Max. He'd protect her, even if it meant the difference between his life and death. He'd taken too many innocent lives. It was time to pay back what he owed. He wanted to prove that he wasn't heartless or cold blooded. He didn't want to be a murderer.

Iggy and Nudge ran down the hall. Max and Fang followed. Nudge pulled Iggy to a halt.

There, blocking the hallway was Ari and two of his goons. One good had a girl with curly blond hair that had to be about six years old and dressed in human clothes. The other thug had a boy who appeared to be eight and had many of the same features as te girl, like blond hair and blue eyes. His legs were swinging wildly, but the guard chuckled as he held the boy a good few feet off the ground and viciously twisted the boy's arm back until he cried out in pain.

"Gazzy!" Nudge said.

"Let him go!" The little girl spat. The other thug laughed and with a jerk, yanked the girl's arm until a sickening pop echoed through the hallway. She squeaked shrilly in pain.

"Angel! Don't fight. Stay calm." Iggy said. His sightless eyes staring unfocused and lying fixed straight ahead.

"It looks like the little kiddies have gotten lost. I'll be more than happy to escort you back to your cages." Ari sneered in unholy glee. "There's no one to stop me from having too much fun now."

Ari stepped aside slightly to reveal a body lying sprawled out on the ground, with blood trickling out of the side of their mouth. Max snarled in rage. The person on the floor was Dr. Martinez; and she looked so very, very dead.

**I hate to stop here, with more bad news. I won't be able to update tomorrow, so maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, okay? If you guys review, that'd be fantastic. And I'm sorry that I didn't reply to some of your reviews. I'm truly sorry for that. **


	13. How to Escape the Freak Fest Part 2

**Hey, Sorry for updating so late. I've just been, like horribly depressed lately. I've just felt unwanted, I guess. Well, I'm updating! Sorry again for the wait. **

**Disclaimer: …**

**Chapter 13: How to Escape the Freak Fest Part 2**

There was Dr. Martinez, the woman who'd cared for Max since the beginning, lying motionless on the floor, with Ari and his goons, leering and blocking her only way out.

She looked at Iggy's sightless blue eyes. He obviously understood their predicament, and had his hands balled up into fists. He was ready to fight his way out. Max silently marveled at Iggy's uncanny ability to know what was going on, even when he couldn't see.

There was so much about him that was a mystery to her. Who was his family that he was talking about? Who was the girl with the darker skin tone that was with him? And what was this family thing he was talking about? Did it have to do anything with the Flock?

Max wasn't thinking about all of these questions. She wasn't even thinking about Fang, who was glaring at her, Iggy, and Ari.

Ari had hurt her, too many times to count, he'd hurt all of the other mutants in the park, and he'd almost killed Fang, even though Max pretended that she didn't care if Ari had killed him. This time, Ari had actually killed Dr. Martinez, her caretaker and the nicest whitecoat there.

Max glanced over to her left side, where the dark skinned girl, Nudge, was standing. She was in fighting position too, her happy brown eyes, hardened to a steely glare.

Max curled her hands up into fists the way Fang had taught her; with her thumbs on the outside of her clenched fists so she wouldn't break them on impact. She quickly went over the tips Fang had shown her when fighting.

"When fighting an opponent larger than yourself, use their weight against them." Fang had told her. "They'll be fast, but you're lighter and quicker on your feet."

Max's heart ached terribly when she thought about Fang. She wanted to take back all the awful things that she'd said about him, but she was too stubborn and her pride wouldn't allow it.

_Besides, _Max told herself._ You meant it. He didn't need to kill Dylan. He chose to, because he's a murderer. He almost killed me, remember? He didn't change at all, not really. He'll always be a killer._

What Max didn't want to admit was the fact that she'd needed rescuing. She'd always liked to do things for herself and hated it when people did other things for her. Fang had saved her, and she hated to admit it. She wouldn't admit it.

Thoroughly convinced, Max focused on the problem on hand. Ari and his two muscled idiots were blocking their only way out. Not only would Max be punished, but Iggy and Nudge would be too, and when the whitecoats saw that Iggy and Nudge had wings, they would be captured and put in the Aviatory. Oh, and Fang would be punished too.

Max didn't want to go back to the Aviatory. She wanted desperately to see the things that were outside the Aviatory. She wanted to see the places where the tourists went to after they left the park. She wanted to fly in the real blue sky outside of the Aviatory's dome.

Ari was the only thing standing in her way. Max would fight to the death to get past him.

Without warning, Max lunged and tackled Ari.

Ari, not expecting the sudden impact, toppled over. Before his witless guards could do anything, Nudge and Iggy followed Max's example and attacked the other two guards.

Fang stood in the back, left without an opponent. He loathed the useless feeling that he got when he watched the others fight. However, he went over to Dr. Martinez's body.

He couldn't help but notice that Nudge and Iggy were no strangers to hand-to-hand combat. They fought well, but not as well as him. He knelt down by Dr. Martinez's body, to check on whether or not she was really dead. With the small dribble of ruby red blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth, the chances of her being alive weren't too optimistic.

Max gracefully dodged a punch from Ari and swiftly gave him a staggering right hook. Ari howled in frustration; he couldn't seem to harm the bird girl. Max's brown and blond hair swished around her as she swiveled and landed a high kick to Ari's chest. His breath left him and he gasped for air. He was going to have to play dirty.

Meanwhile, Nudge fought her guard. He had a squished up, pudgy face like a pug, and was built like a pot-bellied pig. Nudge's short pleated skirt swished as she kicked Pug-Guy on his scrunched up nose. He growled, much like the dog he resembled, and grabbed wildly at Nudge. She attacked Pug-Guy with a series of combo punches that she'd seen on TV.

Iggy tackled with the other guard, who was built like a heavyweight champion or a Hollywood bouncer for the extra-exclusive VIP clubs; he was built to keep the hundreds of crazy fans away. Iggy, kicked and punched where he could hear the guy's heavy breathing and grunts. From what Iggy could figure, this guy was unnaturally tall, even taller than he was, and he was well over six feet!

Iggy heard the almost imperceptible whish as a fist soared toward his face. Iggy ducked and kicked the guy where it counts. Iggy winced in a kind-of sympathetic way as the guy groaned and keeled over. Iggy stopped feeling sorry for the guy after the guy started calling him unrepeatable names. Iggy slugged the place where he heard the obscene words and smirked as he heard the satisfying crack of a broken nose.

Max dropped to the ground after Ari swung his fist in yet another punch aimed for her face. He missed completely and Max swung her legs around for a nimble sweep across the floor, knocking Ari's feet out from under him. Ari cursed as he fell hard on his rear.

Max didn't hesitate to stand up and brutally kick Ari on the side of the head. Ari slumped to the floor, motionless. He wasn't dead, Max knew that much, but he'd be unconscious for a while and would have one heck of a bump on the side of his head afterwards.

"That's for her." Max said gesturing to the still form of Dr. Martinez. Fang's dark figure was still crouched by his side. She was about to walk over there and shove Fang, aside telling him to go and Help Nudge or Iggy fight.

"Max!" Nudge yelled from across the room, still locked in combat with her guard. Max whipped her head around to see Ari, very much awake, on the ground, wildly slashing a knife, about eight or nine inches long, at her. It must have been hidden in his boot or something.

Max jumped back, the razor sharp blade narrowly missing her. Without thinking, Max swung her leg around and hit Ari's hand with the dagger in it. The knife flew out of Ari's hand and got across the room. Ari howled as he grabbed his now broken hand. Max forcefully punched him with a knockout uppercut. Ari's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell.

Then, Nudge screamed a blood-chilling cry. Max turned her head so fast that it hurt her neck.

She looked at Nudge. She didn't look very injured. Iggy whirled around wildly, his guard unconscious on the floor. Nudge's guard was sleeping soundly on the floor.

"Nudge!" Iggy said, panic evident in his voice. He ran over to her. "Nudge, what happened?"

Nudge didn't say anything, she just stared, her shoulders wracking with sobs. She managed to whisper something into his ear. His sightless, unfocused eyes widened.

"Oh, God. No…" He murmured, sounding utterly pained.

Max was confused and perplexed. She hated being left in the dark. She wanted to know what was going on. Nudge's gaze stared in the same direction unwavering. Max followed Nudge's gaze.

She saw a body on the ground with another standing, crying above it. Max sprinted over, tears falling from her eyes like new waterfalls. Red blood formed a crimson puddle on the marble floor.

The person standing above the body was Dr. Martinez, who was silently crying. Max skidded to a halt and knelt by the body. In between the shoulder blades, there was the hilt of the dagger that had been so carelessly tossed across the room.

Max sobbed, and couldn't do anything more.

The body on the floor was Fang.

His big black wings were out, unhidden by his black shirt. The dagger's cruel hilt protruded from between Fang's breathtaking onyx wings.

"Fang," Max managed, choking back a sob. Fang looked at her, his black eyes no longer cold or cruel. They were just so, so sad.

"Max," Fang said quietly, he turned over on his side, so that he could see her without pressing the knife in farther. "I'm sorry… I should have,"

Max cut him off.

"Shhhh…" she said quietly, trying to cork her tears for Fang's sake. "You're going to be okay. We're going to get out of here, Iggy and Nudge an I will carry you out of here, then…. Then…" Max said desperately. Fang looked into her eyes. Her light brown eyes met his depthless obsidian ones, the light in the growing ever dimmer.

He knew that there was no way that they could fly while carrying him. Not when he was bleeding this bad. He knew that he was going to die.

"I wish that… I shouldn't have killed Dylan. You were right. I was just so mad… I wasn't thinking…" Fang said, his voice growing quieter, the strain of speaking growing greater and more overwhelming for him with every word.

"No, Fang, I was wrong, I didn't… I shouldn't have," Max couldn't get her thoughts across. The only thoughts that she had in her head had a vice-like grip, and weren't allowing new thoughts in.

_Fang, stay with me._

She said compulsively in her head.

"I guess I am… a murderer…" Fang managed, his breaths becoming an obvious strain. He had to fight for an intake of breath. He used all of his willpower for another exhale.

"I…I.." Fang said. Then his chest constricted. He couldn't breathe. His eyes gazed, sightlessly, lifelessly.

"Fang…" Max whispered. "Fang, I'm sorry! I didn't mean them! I shouldn't have called you those things! They're not true! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me! Come back! Are you listening?" Max yelled, on the crossroads of despair, anger, and hysteria. "Fang… don't go! Don't go!" Max shouted.

Iggy grimaced, but didn't say anything. They had no time. They had to leave, _now_.

"Max, he won't need to escape anymore. He's free. We won't be if we stay. We have to go. You'd better come with us. They'll hurt you even more if you stay." Iggy said.

All Dr. Martinez heard were twitters. The tall, strawberry blond boy, who's cloudy, unfocused blue eyes gave away the fact that he couldn't see, was chirping to Max, who was twittering and cheeping pitifully at Fang's lifeless body. She was crying.

The girl, who had coffee colored skin, was chirping to Max too. They had to be bird kids too. Dr. Martinez wished that they spoke English. Then she could tell them that she had a plan. They could hide at her house. No one would suspect a thing. They'd be safe there.

Fang's dark black eyes were unfocused, staring off into an unknown place. Dr. Martinez knelt down by Max. Max was crying, hovering over him. Dr. Martinez reached her arm over to close Fang's sightless eyes.

Max snarled in a way that was totally out of character for her. Through her tears, she glared at Dr. Martinez. Dr. Martinez snapped her arm away, as if scalded. Max never did anything like this to her.

"Sweetie, I'm not going to hurt him. Nothing will hurt him again. You should go with them… wherever they're going, it's better than here." Dr. Martinez said, fully aware that Max wouldn't understand her. She hoped that her tone would do the trick. Max didn't budge.

The blind boy chirped something at Max. Max looked at Dr. Martinez, all ferocity gone. She somberly shuffled over a little. The blind boy and dark skinned girl looked at her as she closed Fang's eyes.

Max stood up, tears still dripping down her face. She walked over to the Iggy and Nudge. Max was still looking at Fang's body. Then she looked at Dr. Martinez.

"Thank you." The Iggy said in English in Dr. Martinez's direction.

Dr. Martinez, who was now standing up, jumped back in alarm. She swore that her heart stopped for a moment. That was the last thing that she expected to happen.

"Y… you… sp…speak?" Dr. Martinez stuttered. The Nudge rolled her brown eyes.

"No, we're mute. Of course we speak! Just because some of us haven't learned English, doesn't mean that the rest of us chirp and tweet too! I mean," The Iggy cut her off.

"What she means to say is yes. We all, us winged freaks, all speak that twittering language, but we can learn English too." Iggy said. "We were breaking them out. I'm guessing that you're a good guy. You'll let us go, right?"

Dr. Martinez closed her gaping mouth. Amazing. Her dream had come true. She could finally understand What Max and… what Max was saying. She quickly regained her composure. She would do whatever was necessary to help them.

"If you guys need a place nearby to escape to, you're welcome to stay at my house. I'll have to stay here and make sure that they won't suspect me. Here are the directions." Dr. Martinez said as she quickly rattled out the directions. Iggy would remember.

"Why are you helping us?" Iggy asked suspiciously.

Dr. Martinez sighed.

"Max is like a daughter. I practically raised her. I'll do anything I can to help her and you guys too." Dr. Martinez said. "I'll see you there. My daughter will be home from school by now, tell her that her mother sent you and to put you in the annex."

Iggy didn't know why, but he trusted her. Angel, who was mentally eavesdropping on the whole conversation, agreed. Dr. Martinez was telling the truth.

"Hurry! Get out of here! Follow the exit signs! Go out through the faculty parking lot! Hurry!" Dr. Martinez said quickly.

Iggy, Nudge ran down the hall. Max stayed put.

"Max, come on!" Nudge yelled. Iggy and Nudge stopped, impatiently. Max looked at Fang. Impassively, she walked over to Ari's unconscious form. Calm as ever, she suddenly stomped on his neck. Max did this a few more times. There was a horrible crack. Ari's head lolled at an unnatural degree. Ari was dead. Max had killed him.

Without another glance at the person that she'd just knowingly killed, Max looked back at Fang's motionless body and the woman who'd taken care of her for as long as she could remember until she turned a corner and couldn't see them anymore. She was now numbed with grief. She was so depressed, that she could barely cry.

She followed Iggy and Nudge, who sprinted down the halls until they were met by two other kids; both blond. One was a boy and one was a girl. The girl, who appeared to be around six years old and was strangely tall, looked at her sympathetically. The boy, who had a short, spiky haircut and appeared to be around eight years old, nudged the other girl. Without a word, they resumed running, the boy and girl now running with Max, Nudge, and Iggy. Max was too grieved to care.

It was as if her heart had been pierced with the knife, not Fang's.

They all halted before a set of double doors. A big sign that read, **STAFF EXIT** was placed prominently on both doors.

Without a second thought, Iggy burst through the doors and the rest of the kids followed him. Simultaneously, they spread out their wings, all in various sizes and colors, and continued running. They all effortlessly took to the air, and swiftly soared hundreds, thousands of feet above the ground.

Max, was about to turn to Fang to tell him how great it was, how lighthearted it felt to be so, so free and fly as high as she desired. She was free. But she wasn't; because she remembered that Fang never escaped. Fang would never escape. If Fang never escaped, really, neither would she.

Her body was up here, flying with the rest of the whooping and cheering bird kids, but her heart and soul, was and always would be, in the hallway by that Aviatory, where Fang laid still.

**Very dreary and depressing. I feel like I kill Fang too much. Oh well. Sorry if this chapter reflected my disheartened mood. Writing is how I get all my feelings out. I hope that the chapter was alright. Please review and tell me. **


	14. Friend or Foe?

**Well, thank you guys. This chapter is to my reviewers: RUHLSAR000,** **The Jade Empress , A Splash of Color, pancakes-for-you, Ilooveelmo, c-rae10, Kallik of Gallifrey, RestInPeaceFang, Coco Gold, Sierra156, BookWormS28, Jessie Molitor, FaxandReading, blingsparks, shortbandie9,** **Flitting Wishes, glad u updated maxiumrideluve, Harrypotterpixie455, AmyQueen95, ixdookiie, My Silver Wings18,** **Blue Clouds97, M1DNITELOVER, Palmspringz, ObsessiveReader1223, macyy, Dreamin'OfABlondeFang, Bookwormy x3, auraspirit157, aquamisfit,** **Heart of Diamond, JealousMindsThinkAlike, SilverHeart87,** **(), Petemidnight13, roylpain, Teehee Tummytums, FallenAngelBrokenSoul, Firey-Earth-Girl, dancingonmytoes13, YourBiggestEmoFan, Mckenna,** **Amazingly Brilliant, TheVampLuvr1, (The anonymous reviewer who failed to put in a name so this was all that I could do), bluegreypurple,** **smartiful, moncheri9, Lolin' Girl, flyonfan14 XxWishingForWingsxX,** **ModernMisconceptions, xXjaziXx, Totally CRAZY and Hyper, BookWorm2011, Lives2fly, Perseus12, Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Cherry Bomb, and Bluemaggie.**

**That took a while, but I thank each and every one of you for reviewing! I know now that I'll always have you guys on here! :D Thank you so much! Oh, and my personal apologies to Dreamin'OfABlondeFang, whose reviews I didn't reply to. I'm really sorry, so this chapter is especially dedicated to you.**

**Disclaimer: I… I… I have to start the story. **

**Chapter 14: Friend or Foe?**

Iggy went over the address over and over in his head.

**Alright! I know! Will you stop repeating it already! You're really starting to make me mad!** said a voice in Iggy's head that definitely wasn't his. It was Angel, invading his thoughts like she always does.

**If you don't like it, don't listen.** Iggy retorted mentally. **Try and help Max. She needs someone. But don't freak her out. Just listen. Then tell me what she's thinking. **

"Nudge, do you see the address yet?" Iggy called to thirty feet to his right. The bird kids, who were affectionately called the Flock, chirped consistently, giving Iggy their positions. Gazzy, the eight year old blond boy chirped from about twenty feet below him. He could tell whose chirp it was, because his hearing was uncanny, even for a bird-teen. He could tell the differences between the different Flock member's chirps.

Max was still new. That had to be why she wasn't chirping.

Gazzy's sister, Angel, who was six and had the ability to read minds, control minds within reason, and could send mental messages, chirped from about fifteen feet behind him.

Nudge chirped from right next to him. He swerved unexpectedly. He was startled by her sudden appearance next to him. He was too buried in thought to realize that she'd flown up.

"We're here." Nudge said. "I'll go down first. "

Iggy nodded. She would chirp every few seconds, and he would follow her. He hoped that they weren't in the suburbs. They couldn't be seen.

He followed Nudge flawlessly, and landed as easily as any of the others would have done. It was enough to make someone who didn't know him question whether he was really blind.

They landed in the backyard to prevent more unneeded attention. Five winged, homeless kids and teens aren't exactly a common occurrence, anywhere. That was bound to draw attention.

One after the other, the Flock members landed. Finally, Max realized that the rest of the bird-kids had landed and she numbly circled then landed too. She remembered when she and Fang used to compete to see who could pull off the best landing.

A painful lurch in her chest reminded her that she would never see him land without a sound beside her again. He was back at the Freak Fest. He would never make it out.

Max forced herself not to cry. Fang wouldn't want her to sob and give up. He would want her to live, to move on. She would move on. She'd never forget Fang. Max would toughen her hide and become the best, the maximum Max, so that she could survive.

She'd live for Fang. Most importantly, she'd live, and become the best so that she could have her revenge on that godforsaken park and the satanic beings that ran it. She'd avenge Fang. She'd avenge Fang if it was the last thing that she did. It was partially her fault that he died, so she'd repay her debt to him. That, Max agreed on right there.

Never would she shed another tear. She would never show weakness. She would be more like Fang.

Max took a look around. They were in the rural countryside. Nothing but trees, bushes, and shrubs surrounded the medium, ranch style house. The house was painted in light earthy tones. The whole top floor had a balcony. It was definitely strange, very strange, to someone who'd lived in a tree her whole life. So this is what all of the tourists in the park went to after closing time.

She faintly remembered when she was thousands of feet in the air, all that she could see was a long dirt road and trees and shrubs in all directions. Off to the West, there was a faint city skyline. Her heart had convulsed painfully as she saw a large dome in the city, courtesy of her raptor vision. The dome where she'd spent her life. The dome where Fang's body was, and she'd never even get to see him again.

No, no tears. Not one. She was going to tough it out, for Fang. Max took a deep, outdoorsy scented breath, much like the ones that she breathed in the Aviatory.

She perked her ears. She heard tons of twittering and chirping. Were there hundreds of people like her out here? She tried to focus in on one chirping voice, and it was hard, because there were so many voices, all speaking at the same time. They were coming from the many trees in the woods.

Max bolted into the woods, wanting to meet more people like her. That is why the other winged bird-kids had brought her here. They wanted to free her so that she could be with them and their whole family. That is what Iggy had meant.

"You're about to meet my family, welcome to the Flock." That is what he meant. When she was free, she'd meet his family, who were hiding in the trees. The Family must be called 'the Flock'. Max wanted desperately to meet them. She ran faster into the woods, faster than any all-human could ever run.

"Max!" shouted Iggy. He had heard her run off into the woods. "Oh, God, this is just wonderful! She could get killed! Nudge, Angel, you two go and get her, I'll talk to that doctor lady's daughter. We need a place to stay. If anything seems fishy, we'll send out a signal. We'll rendezvous at Anne's house." Iggy barked, used to giving orders. He was the leader of the Flock.

"What's the signal?" called Nudge as she turned off into the woods, with Angel following close behind. Iggy grinned.

"How about a huge, red firecracker? Homemade, of course." Iggy grinned. Gazzy cackled with glee as the two boys slapped high fives. As well as being the leader, he also made firecrackers and bombs with Gazzy. The bomb building was a great way to take his mind off the pressures of being the leader.

Nudge rolled her eyes good naturedly at Iggy and Gazzy's pyromania.

She took off through the unkempt foliage, Angel now in the lead. Angel led considering the fact that she could mentally locate Max's mind.

"Angel! Can't you, like, tell her to stop and turn around? You know, use your mind controlling skill!" Nudge started. "Too bad that I can't have a cool skill like controlling minds! All I can do is move metal, and only little stuff, like pens. It's not like I can move planes or tanks or buildings! My skill is so lame, I swear…"

"Oh, look! I've found her!" Angel interrupted quickly.

"Can't you tell her to come back? This running through the woods… it's kind of messing up my skirt. OMG! It totally ruined my new shoes! Iggy just 'borrowed' them for me!" Nudge whined.

"I…I can't! She's blocked me out, I can't control her, but I know where she is and what she's thinking!" Angel said, dutifully traipsing on in Max's direction. Angel stumbled and clutched her head. Tears unintentionally formed and fell from her big blue eyes.

"Angel! What's wrong? What happened?" Nudge said quickly, momentarily pausing her constant stream of mindless prattling. Nudge leaned over closer to Angel.

"I'm… it's…" Angel stuttered, fighting to get a grip on herself. Nudge waited, worried but patient for Angel.

"It's Max. She, I mean her emotions… I didn't expect it, they were so strong! They hit me, kind of like a big wave. She is so, so sad. I've never met anyone as sad as she is. She misses that boy at the Aviatory. The one who died." Angel said softly. Nudge heard her and looked at the ground. It was quiet. The two continued to walk, twigs and leaves snapping beneath their footfalls.

"So he's really gone?" Nudge asked pitifully. She saw Fang die, the scene was blurred by the tears dripping out of her eyes, but they had watched him die. She still clung on to some hope that maybe the dark, quiet bird boy was alive. He was like a brother that she'd never met. They were like siblings, the only people that they had were each other. It was only the six of them that had been created with wings.

It was a long story, but someone had broken Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Iggy and her out of the School. Someone had already taken Fang. Max was the only one left at the School. As for the origins of the blond bird kid that Fang had killed, Nudge had no idea where he came from. They had destroyed the School, they looked up all the Avian-human experiment files at the School before they let the government take care of it, and those six were the only bird kids ever made. They tried to make a second batch of them, but failed. There wasn't any information about the other supposed 'second batch' of bird kids.

Anyways, when Fang died, it was like watching a new sibling die.

Angel nodded somberly. The sad expression on Angel's face was so deep, it looked like it didn't belong on such a sweet little six year olds face.

"I heard his thoughts, fading, when I was scanning the building for potential trouble. I'm sorry about not warning you about Ari and the other two guards. I had my own… troubles. Anyways, he was so sad, he wasn't scared about dying, but sad that he had to leave that girl, Max behind. He loved her. He loved her more than anything." Angel said, quickly wiping a tear away.

It was quiet walking through the forest. There was only the sound of birds chirping and the occasional small mammal scampering for cover in the bushes.

Then, the two bird girls stepped out into a tiny clearing. Max stood in the center, with her Freak Fest t-shirt and her old blue jeans. Jeb had changed her wardrobe back to normal instead of her ultra-skimpy outfit that he'd made her wear, since she just took Fang's shirt and covered up with it anyways. She was still barefoot though.

Max stared at the sky, chirping in the strange bird chirping language that all bird-kids seemed to know.

Angel and Max knew that she was chirping, but heard her and easily understood that she was saying,

"Where are you? I'm here! I'm here!"

Nudge looked at Angel, waiting for her to tell her what was going through Max's head.

**She thinks that the birds are other bird-kids. I guess that she's never heard a bird before. ** Angel said in Nudge's head.

"Max," Nudge said in Avian so that Max could understand her. Max's head swiveled in their direction.

"I've found them! Why won't they come?" Max asked.

Nudge looked at Angel sadly, then returned her attention to Max.

"Max, there aren't any more bird kids. There's just us. Those are birds." Nudge said softly. As if on cue, a bright blue jay flew past Max, twittering the whole way. Max looked sad, almost forlorn. Then, her expression hardened.

"If there aren't any more human-Avians, then why did you break me out? Why did you want to? What do you want with me?" Max fired at Nudge. Nudge looked taken aback, and looked at Angel for support. Angel was concentrated, probably trying to figure out the reason behind Max's strange behavior.

**She's still upset. She thinks that if we never broke her out, that he would still be alive. **Angel said in Nudge's head.

"Max, I'm sorry about Fang. I really am, but you had to get out of there. When we get to the house, We'll, that is Iggy and I, will explain why. It's really… complicated. Please, just trust us a little bit longer. You don't have to stay with us, but we want you with us! We're a family, Angel, Gazzy, Iggy, and I are. We want you to be part of it too." Nudge babbled, but she meant every word.

Max looked at them skeptically, then followed them, unsmiling as they led her back to the house of Dr. Martinez.

There weren't any big red fireworks, so the place was obviously safe.

There was Iggy and Gazzy, and they were standing by the door. The door was opened and A girl about a year younger than Max and about the same height as Nudge stood in the doorway, blocking it. The three bird girls were walking up the front steps before they could hear what was being said.

"Really, your mom told us to come here!" Iggy said earnestly, staring in the general direction of the doorway.

"Uh huh, sure. If she did, then what is her name?" the girl asked coolly as she flipped her long, dark hair that was a lot like Dr. Martinez's.

"Uh, I don't know. We didn't exactly have time for chatting.

The girl in the doorway narrowed her brown, almond shaped eyes.

"You're probably some jerks who're playing some stupid joke. Where's the camera?" the girl snapped as she glanced around, craning her neck to look around Iggy's tall, lanky form.

She then spotted Angel, Nudge and Max walking on to the porch.

"And who exactly are…" The girl started in an annoyed tone. Then she looked at Max more closely, and her face changed instantly from anger to shock.

"You're… you're her, aren't you? My mom's showed me pictures of you. But… you're here… OMG, come in. Wait… who are these guys? Prove who you are. Show me your wings. No one is going to see you, there isn't anyone around here for miles. Come on, spread them where I can see them." The girl in the doorway said. Max looked her with a hint of annoyance, but she didn't understand anything that the girl said.

Iggy looked at Max and quickly chirped out the translation of the girl's request in Avian, so that Max could understand.

Max scowled at the girl, then at Iggy.

Max chirped out something so vile, that even Iggy blushed. He was really glad that the girl couldn't speak Avian.

The girl was looking at the group of mutants on her porch like they were a bunch of wierdos.

"Well…" She said impatiently.

"She doesn't speak English. Please excuse her, she's had a rough day." Iggy said. That was the understatement of the century.

"But we're willing to prove what we really are." Iggy said. He spread out his wings, all fourteen feet of them. The girl's mouth dropped.

"I… uhh… come in!" the girl said. "By the way, I'm Ella."

Iggy grinned in her general direction. He motioned for the Flock to follow him.

"Come on, Max!" Nudge said happily in Avian. Max grimaced and walked inside. Angel mentally told Iggy that Ella wasn't hiding anything and that this place was safe. Iggy looked visibly relieved.

"Um, your mom said that you should put us in 'the annex' whatever that is…" Iggy said. Ella nodded. She walked over to the staircase and then took a left, over to the side of the staircase. There was a cupboard under the stairs. Ella opened the door and walked in. The cupboard was tiny.

Nudge didn't know how it was supposed to fit five mutants of their height.

The cupboard was paneled with dark wood and contained an umbrella, a vacuum, and a rusty water heater. Ella lifted a panel close to the ground a little and turned a small knob.

Then, the wall clicked and slid a little to the side. To the bird kids amazement, well, except for Iggy, who couldn't see what happened, and Max, who didn't seem to have any interest for anything.

Ella slipped her slim fingers through the crack and slid the door aside like it was a sliding glass door.

There, behind the false wall, a new room appeared.

"This, is the annex, and let me show you around. Iggy, not expecting for the cupboard door to be so low, walked and slammed his head on the low ceiling.

Iggy grumbled something intelligible as he rubbed his forehead.

"Way to warn the tall blind guy about low clearance." Iggy growled. Ella's tan cheeks flushed red.

"Wow, I'm really sorry! I didn't realize…" Ella started apologetically, sounding very sincere indeed.

"That's alright." Iggy grunted. "Show us the room! Just, please warn me about low doorways. And thanks for this. I'm Iggy."

Iggy introduced the rest of the Flock to Ella. Then he introduced Max. Max didn't even acknowledge that her name was being said. Ella frowned slightly at Max's cold attitude, but showed the Flock and Max the annex.

There was one room, then there was a staircase that led down into the ground, where two rooms were. There were two beds in each room, and a large couch that pulled out into a bed in the main room.

"I use this for sleepovers and stuff. My mom doesn't really know why the house has this built into it, but I kind of like it." Ella said. "There's a fridge over there and a cabinet next to it if you want any food. Feel free to it. I have to go and do… homework."

The Flock thanked her and Max scowled. Max laid down on the floor and stared at the ceiling, wishing for her tree, the sound of the big waterfall, and the sound of Fang's fast heartbeat.

Iggy told the Flock to grab some food quickly and go down stairs. He stayed with Max.

He heard her quiet breathing and quietly walked over to her.

"Max," he said in Avian. She didn't reply, even though she'd head him.

"Look, I'm really sorry about Fang. I really am. I wish that there was something that I could do, but there isn't. Don't be mean to the kids. They just want to have you as a sister. You could be one of us. Just… help me out, here, Max." Iggy said, sighing. It was quiet.

"I'll stay. On one condition. Teach me how to speak in the language of the humans. I want to yell at the people who've kept me prisoner all these years before I kill them. Then, I'm going to kill them. Every last one." Max said. Iggy looked pained. She didn't understand that once you were a part of the Flock, you were a family. You did everything together. You looked out for each other. Not going on suicide missions just for revenge.

"Max, I know that you liked him, a lot. But he wouldn't want you to go and get yourself killed. He'd want you to live." Iggy said. Max's straight, brown and blond hair spread around her head like a misleading halo as she stared at the plain white ceiling fan, swirling above them. She stiffened.

"How do you know what he'd want? You never even knew him!" Max hissed venomously. "I'd rather be trapped there with him than stuck here with you guys knowing that he's back there, dead!"

Iggy clenched his fists. They'd risked their hides to save her from that hellhole and she didn't even have the decency to be grateful about it.

"Do you know why Fang was there Max? Huh? Well, I do! The humans put Fang there for a reason! They put him there to do the same thing that Dylan was put there to do! He was going to, no matter how long it took! Your life would have been _ruined_, Max! They would make you have babies then take them away from you, make them do awful things, and then sell them! You'd never see them again! Whether you like it or not, Max, Fang is dead! Get used to it!" Iggy said his voice growing into a shout.

Max growled, much like the way that Fang used to when he was angry; in a very canine way.

She considered hitting him, but decided that it wasn't worth it. She stood up and stomped over to the couch. Iggy sat on the floor, immediately feeling bad for snapping at her like that. He looked over at her to find her asleep.

He really didn't blame her. She'd had one heck of a day. Iggy's sensitive raptor hearing focused in on the sound of the front door opening. He heard the faint voice of Dr. Martinez calling out into the large house.

"Ella? Ell, are you home?" Dr. Martinez said. Iggy walked quietly, trying not to make a sound. He put his ultra-sensitive ear against the false wall, listening in on the conversation between Ella and her mother, right outside of the cupboard.

"Mom! These kids came! They said that you sent them here. I didn't believe them, then Max showed up! _The_ Max that you tell me about! The one that you've trained at work all these years! Her and a bunch of other bird kids are here! They're real! Why are they here? If that's the real Max, then where's Fang? You told me that Max won't go anywhere without Fang anymore! Is he hiding somewhere else?" Ella said, barely stopping to take a breath. Iggy's heart felt like it undergoing acupuncture with steak knives. He didn't tell Ella that Fang was dead. Ella never even told him that she knew about Fang.

So… the doctor in the hall was Max's trainer, ever since the beginning. There was an awkward silence. Iggy heard the sound of keys being tossed on the counter and footsteps returning to the hallways.

"He's dead." Dr. Martinez said in a masked voice. Iggy could hear the strain in Dr. Martinez's voice. She was trying really hard tot to sob in front of her daughter.

"No…" Ella said in a soft, disbelieving tone.

"I had to make sure. I acted like I was unconscious until Jeb and the rest of his head employee group. He was especially distressed with the death of his son. I woke up, and said that I was attacked from behind when I was going to the restroom. I didn't know who or what hit me. I told him that I just had regained consciousness. Jeb was angrier than I've ever seen him. The hallway cameras were faulty, so he didn't know who was where, and to top it off, the guards were confused, like that part of their memory had been erased!" Dr. Martinez started.

Iggy smiled, in spite of himself. So that is what Angel was doing instead of warning them about Ari and his goons. She erased all the guards' memories. Iggy was proud of Angel.

"Jeb said that I was being transferred to a different department. I am now the caretaker of the human-lupine hybrids." Dr. Martinez said in disgust.

"But… after all that you've done, why couldn't he give you a higher up position?" Ella piped in.

"Because Jeb is angry with me; I'm lucky that he didn't fire me. I guess it's because I know too much, but now, he doesn't have any bird-kids for his show. He's got a long night ahead of him." Dr. Martinez said tiredly. Then, Iggy heard muffled sniffling and crying.

"Mom? What's the matter? What's wrong?" Ella asked quietly.

"They wouldn't even let me have Fang's body! I tried to get it! I was going to… he deserved a decent burial. After all the good things that he did for Max, for all the horrible things that he could have done but didn't… he deserved just a little respect in the end! But…" Dr. Martinez sounded nothing like the strong woman who took command in the chaos of the hall in the park. She sounded vulnerable, like a child.

"What, mom?" Ella asked quietly.

"They took his body. They said it was a waste to just throw him in the ground. Really, I don't think that Jeb wanted me to have any evidence of the cruelty in the park to use against him. They were… they turned his body into food for the human-wolf hybrids." Dr. Martinez said quietly. She'd stopped crying, but the tone of the conversation had gotten a lot more morbid and depressing. Too depressing for tears. Iggy was extremely glad that Max didn't know about that last part.

Those sick evil sadistic cretins… They butchered him up like a dead animal. Like he was a pig or something. Iggy felt his stomach churn. He had half a mind to go vegetarian after this. This was even more horrible than what they'd tried to make him do while he was still alive.

Truthfully, Iggy didn't know much about Fang. But from what Dr. Martinez had said about him and about what Max had said, he sounded like he was a good person. No one, deserved to be chopped up into food for those crazy cannibal dogs. Iggy knew a lot about those human-wolf freaks. They were called Erasers, and were nothing short of savages.

After a long silence in the hall, Iggy was beginning to think that Ella and Dr. Martinez had left the hallway and he hadn't noticed it, but then Dr. Martinez spoke, regaining her usual, calm demeanor.

"Where are the bird-kids?" Dr. Martinez asked.

"Oh, I put them in the annex. I showed them around and let them snack on the food. Max isn't looking so good, mom. I think that there's something up with her. Something that she's not telling anyone. Maybe she and Fang really did…" Ella trailed off and Iggy felt his cheeks turn a little pink at what Ella was implying.

"But how? The cameras…" Dr. Martinez trailed off.

"The cameras can't see everything. They might not have been in view of of all people should know that those cameras can miss a lot." Ella said.

"Oh…" Dr. Martinez got quiet. Iggy could tell that she was panicked at the thought. It would explain why Max was one sliver away from being crazy about Fang being dead. Most people would be depressed but… she was taking it to a whole new degree.

"Let's hope that you're wrong." Dr. Martinez said finally, desperate to change the subject.

"Ella, I'm a little tired from today, but I still could whip up something small for dinner. How about," Dr. Martinez said, her voice fading as Ella and Dr. Martinez walked to the kitchen.

"No, mom. I've got it. I'm not really hungry. I'll heat up some leftover casserole from last night. There's a lot there. I'll see if our guests want some too." Ella said, with a hint of humor in her voice.

_Guests_ thought Iggy. _We're more like refugees. _

**Well, I made that especially long for all you wonderful, amazing people out there! I updated! Reviews are greatly accepted! Please, please feel free to review! I want to hear ANY thoughts that you have! I also want a vote, Iggy should end up with who, Ella or Nudge?**


	15. Chaos and Misery: A Normal Flock Day

**Hey! Thank you guys for reviewing! Sorry for the late updating, but I've had quite the case of writer's block. Without further ado, I give you… THE CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: Fax Forever!**

**Chapter 15: Chaos and Misery: A Normal Flock Day**

The scene could only be described as chaos. Nudge was chasing Gazzy, because He's stolen her favorite bracelet, and was saying that he was going to 'accidentally' drop it into the small pond in the Martinez's backyard.

Angel was cutting pictures out of old fashion magazines that Ella let her have and gluing them together to make little collage scenes. Angel's shredded magazines and the big bottle of glue were precariously laid on the floor, around where Gazzy and Nudge were running around.

Max, grumbling angrily in Avian, decided to go downstairs and attempt to go to sleep. She really didn't like the fact that the kids were constantly up to something, making noise, and just existing in general.

She wanted to mourn in peace. She'd quickly learned that peace was impossible to come by when with the Flock.

Iggy was sprawled out on the couch, exhausted from the day's events. It was only eight thirty at night, but he knew that the kids should probably go to bed. Not like they had a bedtime, ever, it was just the fact that Gazzy' cackling, Nudge's shrieking protests, and Angel occasionally shouting at them for stepping on one of her piles of magazine clippings totaled up to one very loud, migraine inducing noise.

He was used to it, even though today was a very long day and he was exhausted in every way imaginable. He was usually used to a constantly-on-leader-duty and never-gets-a-break sort of lifestyle. He'd given up trying to control the chaos of being the 'parental figure' to these kids, 'parental' being used in the loosest sense possible. Being a controlling and bossy ruler just wasn't in his nature.

Besides, there was a better, less stressful way to lead the Flock. He only took full command when in life threatening/perilous situations, and otherwise let the kids do as they pleased, mostly. It was hard to explain how he normally took care of the Flock. For the most part, he let the kids do what they wanted as long as it wasn't breaking any laws, or causing pain or harm in any way.

Most people wonder how that tactic of ruling was effective. Example, If he tried to wrangle them into a bedtime, they'd generally hate him for it and try as hard as they could to worm their way out of it. Instead, he let them go to bed whenever they wanted to. When he first started doing this, there was a single, blowout all-nighter. The next day, the kids were so wiped out and washed out, that they went to bed at seven o'clock at night. They'd learned the hard way that they should go to bed at a decent time, or they'd be in awful condition the next day.

Generally, it was a better way of running things. It wouldn't work for most people, but it worked for him; probably because Iggy and the kids' situation was the farthest thing from 'most people's'.

The Flock liked Iggy's laid back way of leading. He had only a few rules, and if they were followed out, there wouldn't be any problems.

This situation, however, was different from when they were at home. There were other people in the house, who needed to go to bed earlier than the Flock's usual time. Iggy didn't know what time Ella and her mother usually went to sleep, but he figured that around nine, he should use his rarely used leader power and tell the kids to go to bed early, just because of the situation. They wouldn't like it, but they'd understand the situation.

Unlike most parents/adults/guardians, he never used the phrase 'do it because I said so', or any variation of 'you have to, because I'm the one in charge'. Instead, when confronted with the question of "Why?" when he told them to do something, he'd explain. That seemed to satisfy them enough.

The kids did know to never question Iggy's orders in dangerous situations. They knew that he would keep them safe.

It was a crazy, slightly hectic way of going about things, but it was really the only way to rule under the circumstances; that is, the only way to do things without going insane.

It had been about half an hour of Gazzy running from Nudge, when Iggy decided that enough was enough.

Just as Iggy was about to intervene, Gazzy tripped over Angel's big bottle of glue, spilling it all over Angel's picture collage, and Nudge tumbling over Gazzy. As Nudge was falling, she grabbed wildly at the golden bracelet that she'd gotten for her last birthday and managed to loop one of her fingers around the golden chain. Gazzy refused to let go, and the delicate gold chain snapped.

Angel let out a wail of protest, and then started berating Gazzy for being a klutz and an idiot for spilling the glue all over her now ruined work of art. Nudge was yelling at Gazzy too, saying that it never would have happened if he'd just leave her stuff alone. Small, angry tears started to form in Nudge's brown eyes.

Gazzy, who looked panicked, because he was being shouted at from two sides, appeared to be his real age and letting tears from into his blue eyes. He normally appeared and acted like he was years older than eight, but sometimes, his real age showed through when he was especially distressed or enthralled.

Small, unshed tears built up on the brim of Gazzy's eyes. He hated it when he was yelled at, and now he was being yelled at by two furious girls, who almost never really yelled at him, at least, they weren't nearly as harsh or angry as they were now.

Angel, who was only six, but acted years and years beyond her age most of the time, at least when it came to ideas and her vocabulary, was crying, because the picture that she'd been working on for at least an hour now was completely destroyed. Nudge was crying because her golden bracelet, the only piece of jewelry that she owned, was now broken.

One of the Flock member's crying was rare, even if they were young. They were tough little bird-kids, and he was proud of them for it. But all three of the kids crying at the same time… this was going to be a pain.

Iggy grimaced as he heard footsteps coming down from the stairs above. They were probably going to get kicked out. He didn't mind sleeping in a tree, he just looked forward to sleeping in a good bed, and maybe good food in the morning, instead of going early-morning dumpster diving at the nearest fast food joint. He really just didn't want to get kicked out.

"Hey! You guys! Cool it!" Iggy said in a slightly louder than normal tone, so that he might be heard over the loud squalling. They toned it down, then resorted to just crying quietly and looking at Iggy, hoping that the others would be punished.

"Look, Angel, sweetie, I'm really sorry about your picture. I'm sure that it would have looked wonderful. But maybe you could make another one. We'll get some more magazines tomorrow, and maybe Ella or her mom will let you use the table next time." Iggy said to Angel. "Its fine, we'll make another one, okay?"

Iggy figured that with the few quarters, dimes, and pennies in his pocket, he could scrounge for a few magazines in a thrift store. They always seemed to have those. Either that or they could get up early, before the recycling truck came, and nick a few magazines from recycling bins. Of course, that would mean that they would have to fly into the city, since that there was no one around for miles.

That seemed to placate Angel. She was still sad that her picture was destroyed, but was calmed down. She went to halfheartedly clean up her glue and paper mess, reading Iggy's mind.

"Nudge, I know that Gazzy broke your bracelet. I know that it was important to you. But you really didn't need to yell at him like that. He didn't mean any real harm. He was just playing. He still shouldn't have been in your stuff." Iggy started, never once wavering his attention on Nudge. "I'll see about getting your bracelet fixed when we get out of town. I would fix it when we go to the city, but too many people would recognize Max. If it can't be fixed I'll get you a new one. I promise."

Nudge blinked teary eyed at the remnants of her bracelet, then back at Iggy. Wordlessly, she hugged Iggy fiercely.

Iggy appeared startled for a second, but then relaxed as he hugged Nudge back.

Iggy internally twinged with discomfort. He knew that they were dirt poor. The only things that they really owned were the things that they wore and the things that they had in their pockets. It was hard to fly with a backpack on. Unnecessary weight was a major liability in the air. That's why the bracelet was important to Nudge.

They had so few things, and the bracelet was expensive, but it had a lot of sentimental value as well. Iggy had given it to her about eight months ago when she'd celebrated her birthday. It had survived the whole 'Rescue Max and Fang' mission and the Incident that happened in Colorado a week before.

Nudge must have known that, because she'd pecked Iggy on the cheek, and before he could comprehend what had happened, Nudge was already down the stairs, and in the girl's room.

"Gazzy, dude, you know that you shouldn't have stolen Nudge's stuff. I knew that you were playing around and all, but that was really important to her. If you wanted to play a game with her, I'm sure that Nudge would have been more than happy to play charades." Iggy said with a straight face. Gazzy even cracked a smile at that. Nudge couldn't play charades if her life depended on it. She would always get frustrated and blurt out the answer.

"Really, you already got your punishment already. One girl yelling at you is bad enough, believe, me, I know. But two girls yelling at you… well, at least you didn't get slapped. I always end up getting slapped!" Iggy said, half complaining at his disastrous attempts to flirt with girls at the grocery store checkout line or the cashiers at fast food places.

Gazzy smiled then laughed at Iggy's self-decapitating humor.

"Seriously, next time though, when you're bored, watch TV or play poker with Angel or something. Don't take stuff." Iggy finished. Gazzy went away, still laughing. Playing poker with Angel was suicide. She was a mind reader, literally.

Iggy sighed in relief. Crisis averted. Lord, he was tired though. He just wanted to go to bed and sleep for days.

Iggy's ears pricked up. His ultra-sensitive ears picked up an unfamiliar, muffled giggle. No one but a bird kid would have heard it.

His head whipped over to the annex doorway. He heard a muffled, definitely feminine, squeak, and heard the door abruptly close.

Ella. Ella had watched this whole scene, wonderful. Great, just what he needed. Now she would think of him as 'Mr. Mom' or something definitely embarrassing like that.

Iggy sighed, running his hand through his longish, but not quite unkempt strawberry blond hair. He really wanted to sleep _right now_.

Angel had just finished cleaning up and looked at him in a slightly sympathetic way. She must have ordered Gazzy to go to bed mentally, because Gazzy straightened and marched down the stairs, muttering in a dazed voice,

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed without complaint."

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes. He had told Angel never to control people unless in hazardous or life threatening situations. He was willing to let it slide this time. He was tired.

Ella had showed him where the light switches were.

"Goodnight, Angel. Thanks. I'll tuck you in in a minute." Iggy said quietly. Angel shot him a brief smile. Although Iggy couldn't see it, somehow, he knew that she smiled at him.

**You deserved it. You need a break. I'll make sure that Nudge goes to bed too. **Angel said in Iggy's head.

Iggy nodded, indicating that this was indeed, a life threatening situation and she had permission to make the other kids go right to sleep. It technically was life threatening, his sanity was about to die if he didn't get any sleep.

_Don't get too carried away, Angel. Only make them sleep without a fight. _Iggy thought. He knew that she'd understood what he thought. She was always patrolling everyone's thoughts.

Iggy numbly went to the fridge. He was going to guzzle down another water bottle before bed when he heard Nudge call out to him in a panicked, strangled voice.

"Iggy, help! _Now!_" Nudge said. Iggy immediately shoved the water bottle back in the fridge before bolting down the stairs. He turned towards the girl's room. He heard sobbing and muffled screaming. He silently cursed his blindness. He didn't know what was going on! He hated being left being the last person to know what was going on.

Gazzy, who was now seemingly broken out of his trance, Nudge, and Angel all looked in fear at one of the beds in the girls' room; more particularly, they looked at the person in the bed.

Angel mentally sent Iggy a picture of the scene. For that, he was grateful, because everyone was at a loss for words.

Max was wrapped up in bed sheets, sobbing and shrieking things in Avian. Fang winced and felt horrible, like he was being punched in the gut with each word that came out of Max's mouth.

"Fang! No! Don't die! Please! _Please! Please!_" Max whimpered, her voice clogged with emotion. Nudge quickly wiped away the tears that had reformed in her eyes. It was horrible. It was like watching Fang die all over again. Even Gazzy looked pitiful, and he usually didn't care about romance and the like.

"I don't want to be alone! Please don't go! Fang! Come back! Come back!" Max cried. She had to be a person who talked in her sleep. Either that or it was a really vivid dream, because it was strange to hear complete sentences being spoken by a sleeping person.

"What do we do?" Nudge whispered. The kids looked at Iggy with big, childlike eyes. Iggy didn't say anything.

He leaned over by Max.

"Fang's fine," Iggy lied in a whisper over Max's ear. He was a good liar. All those years of avoiding nosy strangers' attention and winning poker games came in handy. "Fang's safe. He's here with you. He's _alive_." Iggy finished, his voice cracking on that last word. He never messed up while lying. Maybe because it was an outright lie and he hated the truth. He wished that what he's said was the truth.

Max stiffened.

"He's… he's safe." Max repeated quietly.

"Yeah, he's safe, Max." Iggy repeated quieter than ever. Fang was safe, wherever he was. He'd never be in danger ever again.

"He's alive." Max said, barely audible as she slackened and drifted off, silently into sleep.

That last line had bothered Iggy a lot. Max deserved some peace, at least when she was asleep. At least she could escape reality while unconscious.

It was quiet in the room.

"You… you guys should go to bed. Dr. Martinez and Ella both have work and school tomorrow. I doubt that they want us here while they're gone, so we'll have to leave in the morning too. We'll go home." Iggy said quietly, breaking the silence.

Wordlessly, Gazzy, Angel and Nudge bustled silently to get ready for bed. Gazzy brushed past Iggy to get to the boys' room. Iggy, when he heard Max's quiet, even breathing, also turned and left for the boy's room. He walked over to the tiny bathroom built into the room and took a quick hot shower. When he got out, he heard Gazzy's steady breathing and knew instantly that Gazzy was asleep.

Iggy walked over to the girl's room.

"Iggy?" a small girl's voice said quietly, coming from the other bed besides the one Max was in.

Angel and Nudge were sharing the bed, both too frightened of Max's cold attitude and previous freak-out to dare to get near her bed.

"Good night, Iggy. Are we really leaving tomorrow?" Angel said. Iggy sighed.

"Yeah, probably. I don't think that we should stay long. Max could be recognized and they will be looking for her. We should get out of town. Besides, I don't think that Ella's mom knows how much we eat. She'll be as poor as we are if we stay and eat all her food." Iggy said in a teasing tone.

Angel smiled and Nudge managed a smirk. Nudge was still upset; partially because of her bracelet and partially because of what Max had said earlier.

"Good night, Angel." Iggy said as he kissed Angel on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Nudge." Iggy said. He understood the tension that Nudge was feeling.

"Hey, everything will be fine. Trust me." Iggy said. Nudge smiled a little then went quiet.

Iggy turned and left the room, flipping off the lights as he went out. He went upstairs and turned off the lights. Then he finally went to his bed.

_Finally! I get to sleep!_ Iggy though tiredly. He sat down on the bed then laid back, closing his sightless blue eyes.

"Iggy?" a quiet voice said. Iggy tried his hardest not to groan in annoyance.

"Yeah, Gazzy?" Iggy said.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know, why does Max care so much about that boy who died?" Gazzy asked timidly. So Max's nightmare had freaked Gazzy out too.

Iggy sighed. This was a hard topic to discuss, especially to an eight year old boy. A subject that would be much better explained in the morning.

"She loved him, Gazzy. She loved him a lot." Iggy said, hoping that the word 'love' would end the conversation. Usually, Gazzy totally dropped the subject if the word ever came up.

"Well, I love you guys. I'd be really sad if you or Angel or Nudge died, but I wouldn't be sad like she is. She'd really, really sad." Gazzy said, surprising Iggy. This was about the most that Gazzy had ever talked about love or any sort of affection. Gazzy wasn't dumb, he was a smart kid. He knew that Max was depressed and her soul was pretty much crushed from Fang's death.

There were a couple of explanations and a few theories on why she was like this, none of them appropriate for the situation.

"There are different kinds of love. You'll figure out this more when you get older, but there's the love for a family, like us. We're all like a family. That's why we all love each other, even after we get into fights and stuff. But the way that Max loves Fang is different. People, especially people like us find one person that we feel different about, we chose them and they chose us, so we love them differently." Iggy said, completely surprised by this definition of such an abstract subject that he'd conjured when he was so tired.

"It's stronger for Max. She's never had a family or been loved like the way that we have. She gave all her love to Fang. He probably did the same thing for her. He was her life, and now that he's gone, she's lost, because all that she's lived for and all that she's ever loved is gone forever." Iggy finished. Gazzy had stopped talking. Either he was asleep or pretending to be or he was contemplating all the information that he'd just been given.

_God, I've listened to WAY too many chick flicks. Thank you Nudge. Not._ Iggy thought sardonically. Really, he was extremely surprised with himself. Where had that come from?

Iggy decided to battle on where he'd gotten all this sappy romance stuff in the morning. When he' gotten a few hours of well needed sleep. Iggy drifted into unconsciousness, a new day full of new obstacles as leader approached.

O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O

"Iggy, Iggy wake up!" Nudge whispered urgently into Iggy's ear. Iggy groaned and rolled over, half asleep.

"Wassamatter?" Iggy said, trying to wake up. Nudge was sitting on the side of his bed.

"Gazzy and Angel were trying to make breakfast, because they got up early, then Gazzy spilled the milk all over the floor, but when he tried to clean it up, he used this soap stuff and it turned out to be this chemical junk, so now his hands are all acid burned, Angel is freaking out because she doesn't know what to do and we're all still hungry!" Nudge said without pausing for a breath.

Iggy sighed. Another day as the leader of the Flock.

"What time is it?" groaned Iggy, sliding out of bed. He stumbled over to his clothes in the bathroom, and shut the door.

"Oh, it's about six thirty. We would have slept longer, but Max started crying again and I couldn't sleep, so Angel saw that Gazzy was already upstairs watching TV and we went to get breakfast. Then all of this happened! I told him just to wipe it up with paper towels, but he said that it would just get the floor sticky, so we should use soap. So he," Nudge rambled.

At this point, Iggy was already dressed and he walked out of the bathroom. And it was… six thirty in the morning. Great. He had to be the leader and he didn't even get to sleep in.

He covered Nudge's mouth.

"Well, at least the Nudge Channel is working." He said simply. He quickly took his hand of her mouth. He'd learned the hard way that if you covered Nudge's mouth for too long, she tended to bite or lick your hand.

Nudge grinned guiltily as she pranced up the stairs with Iggy right behind her.

Iggy and Nudge snuck out of the Annex and into Ella's kitchen.

Gazzy was sitting on the kitchen floor, FORCING HIMSELF NOT TO CRY. He was going to tough this one out.

Angel was sitting next to him, sending him encouraging thoughts and gently sopping up the milk with a handful of paper towels.

"Hey, Gazzy. Nudge told me what happened. I'll see how bad this is. It might sting a little." Iggy said quietly, not wanting to wake Dr. Martinez and Ella at this ungodly hour of the morning. He was silently thankful that Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge didn't flip out and wake the whole house up.

Iggy gently let his finger's graze over Gazzy's hands. They were blistered, raw and red, and they were hot from the acid burns. He didn't know what the heck had burned him.

"Did you by any chance, read what it was called?" Iggy tried to say pleasantly. Don't misunderstand him, he loved Gazzy, he really did, but sometimes the kid could be a little… thick sometimes.

Nudge grabbed a potholder off of a hook by the stove and gingerly picked the bottle with the acidic contents up, like it was a stick of dynamite.

"It says that it's dish detergent, for cleaning purposes only, do not ingest, if in contact with eyes or ingested, please call…" Nudge chattered, as she read off the label of the bottle.

"Okay!" Iggy said quickly. "This can't be dish detergent. No way, people get this stuff on their hands all the time. It has to be in the wrong bottle or something. It would not do this," Iggy said as he gestured to Gazzy's inflamed hands.

Gazzy took a sharp intake of breath as Iggy's hand brushed against the burn.

Iggy heard another set of unfamiliar footsteps approach. They were too light to be an adult, and too heavy to be Nudge. Ella.

"Sorry we woke you. Yeah, I know you're there." Iggy said plainly. "Gazzy here had a little accident."

"Iggy!" Gazzy hissed, his face turning bright red. "I did not! I just spilled the milk!"

Iggy was definitely not a morning person. It took a moment to realized why Gazzy was upset, and quickly rephrased what he said previously.

"Yeah, he spilled the milk, tried to clean it up, and burned his hands. What is that stuff in the dish detergent bottle anyways? That's some pretty nasty stuff. Burned his skin right off." Iggy said.

Ella looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, that's chlorine. We have a pool, and that was all the chlorine that was left. I just put it in a bottle I found in the recycling bin. I guess I really didn't think to warn you guys. I'm sorry." Ella said, sounding genuinely sorry.

"It's okay, but is there anything that we can do for him?" Iggy asked. He was no medical professor. But her being the daughter of a doctor, she had to have some sort of medical knowledge.

"Yeah," Ella said quickly as she reached into an upper cabinet and rummaged around. Nudge put the bottle back into the cabinet where it came from. Ella returned with an armful of various first aid supplies. First, she poured some kind of gel on Gazzy's hand. He winced at first, grinding his teeth, but relaxed.

"So, are you guys normally early risers or is this a special occasion?" Ella asked. Iggy shrugged.

"Not usually. The early bird may get the worm, but he who sleeps in gets bacon." Iggy said seriously. Ella giggled. Nudge scowled at Ella.

"Speaking of which, can I cook breakfast? I mean, you deserve more than cereal since you had to play first aid so early." Iggy said. Ella looked sort of unsure.

"Uh, can you, I mean you don't have to. It's fine, really. I'm totally fine with toast or cereal… You guys are welcome to have whatever." Ella said.

Iggy smirked.

"Oh, you doubt the blind guy's cooking skills?" Iggy said smirking. Nudge and Gazzy shared a smirk. Ella, on the other hand, turned beet red.

"No! No, I wasn't saying that at all! I mean, I just don't want you to have to…" Ella stuttered. She concentrated intently on wrapping Gazzy's hand with gauze.

"I think that she does." Iggy confirmed. "Well, I'll show her. Nudge; get the bacon, flour, butter and sugar out. We're making the best breakfast this house has ever seen." Iggy said grinning.

"Yeah, it'll nice to have a nice breakfast before we leave." Gazzy piped in. Ella looked at him, wide eyed.

"What? You're leaving? When? Why? I mean, did we do something wrong, I'm sorry if," Ella started anxiously. Iggy had his back turned to her, facing the stove. He was beginning to fry the bacon and was stirring the pancake batter he seemed to conjure out of nowhere.

"Oh, it's nothing that you did. Yu guys are awesome! Really, thanks for letting us stay here. But you don't really know how much one bird kid can eat. There' five of us. We'll eat until you're broke, and we really don't want that." Iggy said. He poured the ready batter on to a separate pan. Some of the bacon was already done, so he put it on a platter that Nudge had pulled out of a cupboard.

Ella marveled at Iggy's amazing ability to cook. She'd always thought that it would be awful to be blind, because you could never do any of the things that normal people do. But here was Iggy, acting very normal indeed. He just needed a tiny bit of help from Nudge. She barely even noticed that he was blind.

"Besides, there's stuff that we have to do back home. And people would recognize Max here. Max… she can't stay here very long. We're too close to the Aviatory. That… it doesn't sit with her well… with Fang being gone and all." Iggy said, his light tone darkening at the end of the sentence.

"Yeah," Nudge piped in, hating not talking for so long. She didn't like the way that Ella was looking at Iggy like has some blind bird-kid model or something. "Max has been terrible we can't stay here, really but we have to get home. It's really where we belong. Her nightmares might even go away if we go home." Nudge began. Iggy looked in Nudge's general direction. She was acting really strange. She was being different, she didn't seem to like Ella for some reason, and Nudge loved practically everybody that she met.

Iggy had a pile of bacon large enough to feed a high school. He also had a few dozen chocolate chip pancakes by now. Iggy asked Nudge to get a few eggs out.

"So, how do you usually like your eggs?" Iggy asked Ella.

"I, uh, I'm good with the pancakes and bacon. I don't need anything else." Ella said quickly.

"Scrambled it is." Iggy said grinning. Ella playfully rolled her eyes. Nudge scowled over by the counter. Gazzy's hands were completely bandaged now and he got the plates and forks out. Angel put the cups on the table and started the coffee for Dr. Martinez. Everyone likes coffee.

"Sweetie, you know how to make coffee? Are you sure that you don't want help?" Ella said to Angel.

"I'm sure" Angel said simply as she started the coffee machine. She'd done it perfectly.

"I know how to make coffee just fine. I like coffee." Angel said, as If reading Ella's mind. Ella blinked. She was just a little kid, sure, she had wings, but she couldn't possibly read minds.

"I want a few scrambled eggs, one sunny side up!" said Nudge. Iggy nodded.

"I want four sunny side up!" Gazzy said.

"What about you Angel?" Iggy asked as he cracked a few eggs into a pan.

"Three omelets, please." Angel called sweetly, as she put the milk and orange juice on the table.

"Hey Gaz, could you put some toast into the toaster?" Iggy called. Gazzy walked over and got the bread out of the cabinet. He put two thick slices into the toaster on the counter.

Ella looked at the kitchen scene. At six thirty in the morning, the bird kids were making a breakfast big enough to feed an army and the blind guy was the cook. She didn't want to offend him if it turned out bad. The whole Flock was like a family, except they all seemed to be reading each other's minds.

In a matter of minutes, Iggy brought the heaping tray of bacon and the huge pile of pancakes to the table. Each of the bird kids grabbed their plate of eggs from the stovetop and scampered over to the table. Ella sat down, dazed. She hadn't seen so much food since her mom took her to a buffet in the city one day.

Iggy put Ella's scrambled eggs in front of her. Just then, Ella heard Iggy speak.

"Hey, I never got your name back… there." Iggy said awkwardly.

Dr. Martinez smiled. She was fully dressed in her Freak Fest uniform. Her polo shirt with the Freak Fest insignia on the left shoulder was a light blue and she wore a clean pair of name brand jeans. It was part of the dress code to wear Jeans, but they had to be designer brands. Dr. Martinez thought that it was one of the many stupid rules at that park.

"Right, my name is Valencia Martinez, but you can call me Valencia or Dr. Martinez, Ms. Martinez, whatever you want to really." Dr. Martinez said. "Wow, this smells amazing! Did you cook this by yourselves?"

"Iggy did most of the work. He's an amazing cook! You should have seen them, it was like a professional kitchen or something!" Ella exclaimed. Iggy smiled sheepishly, embarrassed by all the attention. He wasn't really used to people that he just met complimenting on his cooking.

Iggy got back up before he could take a bite.

"So, Ms. Martinez, how do you want your eggs?" Iggy asked as he began to pile the dirty dishes in the sink. He gently felt around on the counter for an egg until he felt the cold, smooth shell.

"Oh, that's fine… I never was properly introduced to any of you either." Dr. Martinez said. Iggy smiled in her general direction. He heard her tennis shoes approach him on the tile floor.

"I never really realized how tall you were! You're even taller than F…." She quickly cut off her sentence and looked around for Max.

"It's alright. She's still asleep. She had… quite a rough night. Nudge nodded empathetically in the background, her mouth full of syrup soaked pancakes. Gazzy and Angel were too busy digging in to really take part in the conversation. "Besides, she doesn't understand a word of English."

Dr. Martinez looked at the four bird kids in absolute awe and wonder.

"I… I have so many questions about you guys, but I have to leave soon, I won't have enough time. But really…"Dr. Martinez trailed off waiting for Iggy to fill in his name. He took the hint.

"Iggy. I'm Iggy, the chatterbox eating all the pancakes is Nudge, the boy who is probably stealing bites of my eggs is Gazzy, and the little girl is Angel." Gazzy quickly withdrew his fork from Iggy's untouched plate.

Dr. Martinez looked at Iggy, her bow scrunched in mild confusion. His eyes stared straight ahead, not moving or looking at any of them when he spoke. He sensed her curious looks. He always knew, somehow, when someone was staring at his cloudy blue eyes.

"I'm blind." Iggy said, gesturing to his eyes. Dr. Martinez quietly gasped.

"Oh, I didn't I mean… I never would've guessed that you were!" Dr. Martinez said quickly. He smiled.

"I've gotten to learn how to do things over the years." Iggy said.

"Iggy, you can go on and eat, there is plenty of food. I really don't want any eggs, thank you. I will have a pancake if I'm allowed. May I?" Dr. Martinez asked kindly.

"Oh, sure! Go ahead! I mean, it's your food. I'm sorry about that, by the way. You probably didn't know exactly how much five bird kids can eat." Iggy said apologetically as he sat down and started eating his eggs, even thou they'd gotten cold.

He used his fork and stabbed six pancakes and put them on his plate. He grabbed a half dozen pieces of bacon too.

Dr. Martinez helped herself to two pancakes and a piece of bacon. The Flock kind of looked at her weird. They hadn't really seen a normal human eat in a while and they'd forgotten how little calories normal people eat compared to a human-Avian.

Dr. Martinez took a bite of her pancake and almost groaned, which would have been really childish.

"Iggy, these _are_ amazing! You cook even better than my grandmother! Oh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but can you cook dinner too? It can be whatever you want. I'll get off of work early so we can go shopping for what you guys need, because honestly, I don't know much about you guys." Dr. Martinez said as she ate her pancakes.

"Uhh, about that. I'm sorry, but we have to go. We're leaving whenever you do. I mean, you probably aren't very happy with us being in your house while you're gone, and you've seen how much we eat and all. You'd be broke before tomorrow." Iggy said, eating a few pancakes at a time. He was starving. Leading sure made a bird kid hungry.

Dr. Martinez looked startled, and almost chocked on the piece of bacon that she was munching on. It was perfectly crisp, but not burnt.

"You're leaving? You'll be fine! I have lots of money saved up… I was planning on breaking Max and Fang out one day, if Jeb, who is the horrible owner of the park, ever tried to take things too far. I… have to get going. I have to be at the park at seven fifteen. Thank you for cooking, and you guys are staying. I insist. I really care about Max and you guys. I really want to help you. Please, stay. I'd miss your cooking too. I'll be home… at two o clock, and you guys had better be here." Dr. Martinez said sternly.

Gazzy smiled.

"Good, I like it here. I especially like Ella." Iggy said. Iggy turned purple and Ella's head whipped over to stare at Iggy, her face turning red. Iggy's face was a reddish-purple color.

"GAZZY!" Iggy shouted.

"Uh oh…" Gazzy squeaked and he darted down the hall and into the annex. Iggy took one more bite of pancake.

"I swear, that wasn't me. Gazzy can mimic stuff. He does stuff like that all the time. I'll get him." Iggy said.

"Bye, Ms. Martinez. We'll be here, though I'm not really sure that you really know what you're signing yourself up for." Iggy said quickly as he dashed down the hall after Gazzy. There was a large thwacking sound like someone getting hit in the head with a wooded baseball bat.

"YOWCH!" Iggy yelped from the hallway. "GAZZY, I'll _kill_ you!"

"He hit his head on the low doorway again." Angel said as she daintily ate a her eggs with a fork.

Dr Martinez looked in wonder at the where the huge piles of food used to be. There was only a little food left.

"We'll save this for Max. I wish Gazzy hadn't stole all the bacon." Nudge said as she put the leftovers on an empty plate and brought all the dirty plates and silverware to the sink.

There was a small mountain of dirty dishes and silverware in the sink.

"The school bus will be here soon." Ella said. "Thank you guys for breakfast!"

"No problem." Nudge said without lokking at her.

"Well, I should be going too." Dr. Martinez said. "Remember, I'll.." She started.

"We'll be fine, Iggy's always taken care of us. We're alive now. We'll not break anything." Angel said sweetly as she ate the last bit of eggs on her plate.

"We'll do the dishes too." Nudge said.

"Thank you so much! Goodbye!" Dr. Martinez said.

"Bye!" said Ella.

Nudge and Angel waved to the two Martinez's as they walked out the front door. As they loaded the dishwasher, they were careful not to use the false dish detergent. There was a loud crash.

"I told her that _we_ wouldn't break anything. I never said _anything_ about Iggy or Gazzy." Angel said. They continued to load the dishwasher until it was full.

**There you have it. I'm really, really tired. I hope that it was okay. It was supposed to be like, a peek into the life of the Flock. Sorry if I bored you to death. Review anyways. That is, if you want any excitement in the next chapter. AND JUST BECAUSE FANG WASN'T IN THE CHAPTER DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD STOP READING THE STORY! THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNOWS WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT IS ME! So please, trust me and continue reading the story. Trust my judgement. Please. **


	16. Get Strong and Move Along

**Hey! Okay, big news. I will be unable to update after today for a week, because I will be gone on vacation. Hey, but I'll update as soon as I get back and I'll surely be inspired while I'm gone! I hope that you like the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I already packed the Disclaimer… sorry, James Patterson! ;) **

**Chapter 17: Get Strong and Move Along**

Max woke up and felt the sticky trails that tears had left behind on her face. She hastily bushed them away. She hoped that no one had noticed that she'd cried in her sleep. She wanted to curl up into a ball under the soft blankets on the bed. It was the first bed that she'd ever slept in. She never wanted to leave.

She was plagued by horrible nightmares almost all night. She saw Fang dying all over again. First, Ari stabbed Fang in the back. Then Ari's face morphed into Dr. Martinez's face. Next Dr. Martinez's face morphed into Iggy's face. Finally, Fang's murder's face morphed into her own face. It was her. It was all her fault for killing Fang.

Then, the murder disappeared leaving Fang's dying body behind. Max ran to him, but there was nothing that she could do, she saw the life fading from his eyes. Her, it was her fault that Fang died.

She sobbed in her dream, begging for Fang to return. Pleading that he stay with her and not die. It was too late. He was gone. She sobbed hopelessly, for there was no meaning in her life now that he was gone. He dream-self had forgotten the single, very important reason that she was still alive. She lived to avenge Fang's death.

Then, a soft voice, almost like a whisper from another world, invaded her dream.

"Fang's fine," The voice said softly. "Fang's safe. He's here with you. He's _alive_."

Max sniffled. The voice… it was familiar. Max looked helplessly as she cradled Fang's head in her arms. She couldn't tell you what the scenery around her looked like, because she was focused on Fang.

Max gasped as Fang's chest rose and fell once again. His obsidian eyes opened groggily, like he was waking up from sleeping. He gave her one of his signature half smiles.

Max hugged him and couldn't stop crying. He was here. He was alive. They were together again. That was all that mattered.

Max felt his arms gently wrap around her and his lean muscles tighten around her small frame. She smelled his piney, musky smell. Small tears continued to drip, slower and slower, until she realized that she was no longer crying.

"See Max. I'm here." Fang said. She could feel his deep voice vibrating in his chest.

"Fang, don't go anywhere." She said, terrified that he'd leave her again. Losing him was horrible; it was like her soul had been forcefully ripped away. She felt empty inside, and the hollow feeling hurt more than she could bear.

"I won't. I'm here." Fang said quietly. She felt the warmth of his skin; she heard the sound of his heart's quick beating and felt the rising and falling of his chest.

"Okay, I need you here. Don't leave me." Max said timidly, feeling as delicate as a dry, dead leaf. It was as if a single point of pressure would shatter her.

"I won't." Fang said. She spread her wings out for no apparent reason. Fang smirked and did the same. She let go of the embrace, but they were so close. She could see every detail on his face. She could discern every one of his dark eyelashes and even see the miniscule, golden flecks in his glittering black eyes.

They leaned in closer until their lips brushed and it sent elated sparks surging through her body. She leaned in closer for a lingering kiss and she shivered with delight. They tilted their heads for a better angle. Max's hands were in his silky, shaggy black hair and his hands were around her waist.

Fang silently pulled his wings forward until he had them wrapped around Max, encasing them in a feathery, ash colored cocoon. Max did the same.

All that Max, felt, saw, tasted and smelled was Fang. He was alive. He was here. He was with her.

She wished that this moment could last forever. Nothing lasts forever.

Max was being torn away, torn from Fang, as if a strong wind was pulling her. In a blur, Fang was gone. That's when Max woke up. Then she realized that Fang really was dead. He was really gone.

He was so close, he was in her grasp, she could feel him! He was there and now he was gone. Max realized that a traitorous tear had fallen from her eyes. She hastily wiped it away.

No. She wouldn't cry.

They took him from her forever. That was one of the things that those cretins at the park would pay for. Oh, she'd make them pay. She'd make them all pay. She was going to learn the human language from the other bird kids that she was with, then she'd go and destroy that place, freeing all the mutants and making all the whitecoats pay for what they'd done to her. She'd make the pay for taking the love of her life away.

She didn't even know what love was. She knew what it felt like, but she didn't know what it was called, even in Avian. There wasn't a word for 'love' in Avian. Not one that would describe the way that she felt about Fang.

Max hastily stood out of bed. She walked up the stairs, hearing the sounds of feet running and making a lot of noise. She would eat, and then she would have Iggy teach her how to speak like a human. Then, she would storm the park. Max wanted the nightmares to stop. Maybe they'd stop after she'd avenged Fang.

**Okay, that was unforgivably short. But I have to go. Now. Sorry! I WILL update the SECOND that I get back home! I swear! There was so much that I wanted to put in this chapter… I hate it when I'm in a rush! **


	17. Twenty Questions and Then A Few More

**Hey guys! Thank you for your patience and support! This chapter is definitely dedicated to Perseus12, who sure knows how to write a perfect review!**

**Disclaimer: uh… it's not unpacked yet. **

**Chapter 17: Twenty Questions and Then A Few More**

Max quietly walked up the stairs and was hit in the face by a bombardment of noise. She cringed. Gazzy and Nudge were playing some sort of board game on the floor and arguing about it.

Max, who had never seen a board game, wondered what in the world they were doing. Angel was nowhere to be found. Iggy was also absent.

Max somehow knew that leaving Gazzy and Nudge alone could end horribly, considering the fact that they fought constantly. Without a second glance at them, she slid the wooden wall panel away and left the secret annex.

She followed the sound of Iggy's voice to the kitchen. He was there at the table with Angel. He was helping her make pictures that were cut from brightly colored magazines. Angel looked up at Max and grinned, her small white teeth sparling.

"Hi, Max!" Angel chirped in Avian.

Max's head whipped over to look at the small little girl closely.

Max had no idea that the younger bird kids could speak Avian as well. Max didn't reply, but looked at Iggy, whose blind eyes looked over in her general direction.

"Good morning Max. There's some food here if you want it." Iggy said from the table. Angel said something to him in English, her face still bright. His smile faded momentarily, and he quickly said something back. Angel shrugged and continued working diligently on her picture.

Iggy gestured to a plate full of food on the table. Max walked over to it.

Without saying anything, she sat down in the chair and ate the leftover breakfast foods. Within minutes, the plate that was once heaping with food was now completely empty. Max stared off into space, looking lost and alone.

Angel looked at her sadly.

"She's thinking about him again. She's used to sharing her food with him." Angel told Iggy in English, so Max didn't understand what she was saying. Max probably wouldn't have heard Angel if she had shouted it in Avian. Max was miles away. While her body was free, her heart and soul would always be trapped in the Aviatory; the place that Fang was and would never escape from.

Max abruptly stood up. She left the plate on the table and hastily walked for the door. She wanted to get out. She needed to get out. She had to fly, to clear her head. She couldn't breathe in here. The depression seemed to be suffocating her in here.

With a little fresh air, she could brutally shove all of her emotions away and continue living for one sole purpose: to destroy the people at that park. It was their fault that he was dead. She'd make them pay. She had to turn that empty, sad feeling into anger. It was the only way to keep her from giving up. Anger… she could handle.

"Max," Iggy said as soon as he heard her quick departure. Max didn't turn around. She stopped however.

"Don't you want me to teach you the language of humans?" Iggy asked in Avian. Max turned around, her eyebrow raised, as if to say, '_Now?' _

Iggy nodded. Angel grinned mischievously as if she knew something that Max didn't. Max's bare feet barely made a sound as she slowly walked over to the table and sat down again, a few across the table from where Iggy and Angel were.

Iggy saw that she had no shoes. She'd need some, if she was going to live with the Flock. Her 'Freak Fest' t-shirt was also dirty and had a few dried blood spots on it. Her jeans were grimy, dirt smeared and torn. She looked like a mess.

Iggy made a mental note to buy her a new set of clothes when they went shopping with Dr. Martinez later in the afternoon.

"So now what?" Max said impatiently in Avian.

"Now you learn to speak in English." Iggy said in Avian.

Max made a face.

"English? What's English?" Max said irritably.

"English is what the language of the humans is called." Iggy said patiently. Angel was watching Max intently, her cutting and pasting artwork forgotten. Max scowled.

"I don't need to know what it's called! I just want to be able to tell them that they deserve to suffer for killing F…" Max stopped, unable to say his name. She didn't trust herself enough to talk about him. She was afraid that she'd cry or let her voice crack. Her emotions were still raw, even though she was getting better and better at hiding it.

Iggy's sightless blue eyes looked almost… sad.

"Max, you need to learn it anyways. You will still need to use it. Even after you go back to the park." Iggy said. Angel's eyes widened. She knew exactly what Max was about to say. Max smiled, for the first time in a long, long time. However, it was a grim, morbid smile.

"Who says I'm coming out alive? I think you and I both know that when I go back in there, I won't be coming back out." Max said quietly.

Iggy stared in Max's direction, his expression a confusing mix of many emotions. Angel was sitting, completely silent, barely breathing. She was overwhelmed by the invisible battlefield of thoughts and emotions that was going on across the table.

Angel saw that Max was mad, irritated and frustrated with the whole idea of learning a whole new language. She was impatient, because she knew that learning the new language would take time, a long time, maybe months. She hated hiding all the time and wanted to fly. She hated, hated, _hated_ the whitecoats. She blamed them for killing Fang. It was their fault that Fang was stabbed. She wanted desperately to kill them all.

Most of all, at the center of her emotions, was a soul crushing sadness. A depression that made Angel want to flee the room and sob, and it was really hard to make Angel cry. Max was torn apart by Fang's death, never to be repaired. Nothing, nothing would ever piece Max back to the way that she was at the Amusement Park.

Angel remembered when they first went to the Freak Fest Park, to see if the two supposed bird kids were real, or just hoaxes. The Flock went to the hallway around the Aviatory, farther back than the tourists who pressed their sunscreen smeared noses against the thick Plexiglas window to sneak a peek at the two alleged bird kids.

Iggy had told Angel to read the minds of the people in the Aviatory, to see if they really were bird kids or even kids at all. They could have been robots or something else.

Angel concentrated on the boy first. The advertisements said that his name was Fang. Angel saw that he was flying, really flying. He and the girl, Max was her name, were soaring high above, near the Aviatory's roof. Angel crept around his mind catching snippets of thoughts. He definitely wasn't a robot and sure wasn't a human.

Angel saw his past. She saw small memories suppressed in the back of his mind. A memory flashed into Angel's head like a movie.

_Fang was about four years old, and he was in an arena. Thousands of people were shouting and jeering at him from the outside of the large cage that he was in._

_In that memory, there was a dog, a huge, Rottweiler-looking dog that had old scars and scratches all over it. It had one eye. It bit Fang, and ripped gaping wounds in his flesh. Fang screamed in pain, but the dog didn't relent. Fang finally bit the dog's neck, hitting a crucial artery and the dog yelped; blood pouring from its neck. Fang wouldn't release his hold on the dog until it whined and collapsed; its blood all over Fang and the arena floor. The crowd cheered. Fang spat out the dog's horrible blood._

_He was dizzy and life was fading from him. The dog had torn large gashes through his flesh, causing his lifeblood to pour out of him at a dizzying rate. Fang fell to the ground in a heap, his blood mingling in with the dead dog's blood on the dusty concrete floor. The crowd's roar was fading into dull, meaningless background noise, then into silence as Fang fell into unconsciousness._

Angel still shuddered from the horrible memory that she had stumbled upon in Fang's mind and others like it. As for his emotions at the current time, Angel had seen that he was happy. Crazily overjoyed, and drunk with the presence of Max. He was the best that Angel had ever seen of hiding his emotions from everyone else, but he couldn't hide them from her.

Fang was the happiest that he'd ever been in his life when he was with Max. He loved her. He loved her more than he ever loved anything in the world. Angel was really overwhelmed with the emotion. Angel was stunned; Fang had managed to hide his emotions from her, completely and totally, and Max never even knew the depth of his feelings.

Angel then tore her mind from his and hacked into Max's brain. Max was giddy. She was happy too. She was definitely a real Avian-human too. Angel knew that Max loved Fang too. It was overwhelming, but Angel thought that it was sweet. Kind of like a movie. Only movies weren't true; love like the movies portrayed was practically extinct, Angel had seen that many times, and she was only six. This was real life; one of those real examples of love that you could almost never find anymore.

Angel blinked and focused on the current situation. The discussion at the kitchen table in Dr. Martinez's kitchen had gone completely silent.

"Fang didn't die for you just to throw your life away, Max. You have a chance to live, so use it!" Iggy said softly, his voice rising at the end. Angel was a little bit frightened. Iggy never, ever got mad. At least, he hadn't gotten really, truly mad in a very, very long time. It looked like this 'English lesson' was going to end up as an Avian shouting match.

"Like I said, you never knew him, so you don't know what he'd want. I'm not one of those kids that you boss around, so you can't tell me what to do. No one can." Max said in a deadly calm voice. "Besides, what do you care? If I die, that's my problem. Not yours."

Iggy bit his lip and sighed in frustration.

"Look, Max. I care because we're a Flock. We are the only people with wings in existence; you, me, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel. We're a Flock. We stick together, because we are all that each other has got. That's why we saved you from the Aviatory, and that's why we care about you. It's why I care about you. You're family." Iggy said.

Max was quiet.

"I'm going to fly." Max said barely audible. Iggy understood. There were many things that he would never understand about her, but one thing that he did was when someone needed to be left alone to think.

"Come find me when you want your first English lesson." Iggy said. Max looked at him and a ghost of a smile crossed her face. She then hurriedly left the room and went out of the front door. Iggy watched from the window as she ran, and took off into the sky, flying in the direction opposite of the Aviatory.

-XOXO-

Dr. Martinez drove up to the employees' entrance for the park. She was stopped at the gate where a guard stood so that only employees could enter.

"Hi Frank." Dr. Martinez said to the man in the booth.

"Good morning, Dr. Martinez." Frank the security guard said. He pressed a button inside the booth and the guardrail lifted, letting Dr. Martinez pass. Her blue minivan drove up to a parking spot. She stopped and pulled the keys out of the car. She rested her head into her hand and sighed.

The look of pure depression and frantic despair that Max wore when Fang was killed wouldn't leave her mind. She would try to persuade Jeb to let her have Fang's body. Maybe he's see reason. Yeah, and maybe the moon really was made of cream cheese.

Dr. Martinez almost cried when she realized that she no longer was the one and only caretaker and trainer of the human-Avians. She just got used to there being two bird-teens. Now there was none. At least, none were here anyways.

Dr. Martinez sighed and pushed the thoughts aside. She got out of the car, locked it and put the keys in her bag.

She walked up through the double doors and almost walked to the Aviatory. Dr. Martinez grimaced as she once again, was reminded that she was now the head caretaker for the 'Erasers', also called the human-lupine hybrids. The Erasers had no trainer. They were more animal than anything in the park. They were vicious, mindless monsters. They couldn't be trained. Even Jeb knew that.

Dr. Martinez hated them the most out of all the things in the park. She felt bad for every single thing imprisoned in the park, even the Erasers, but they were by far the ones who deserved cages the most.

Dr. Martinez almost never went to this part of the park. The Eraser's blood-chilling howls and eerie faces kept her away from here. At one moment, the Eraser looked completely human, not a tooth or claw or a tuft of rough wolf fur anywhere. In fact, the Erasers looked like male and female models; at least, while they were in human form.

Then, the Eraser would morph from an angelic looking human into this viscous werewolf monster. It was quite terrifying.

The Erasers could breed, but an Eraser only lived for about five or six years. That's the mostly the only knowledge that Dr. Martinez knew about the creatures. She'd never cared about them enough to learn more.

Dr. Martinez finally walked into the Eraser's control room, which was much smaller than the one in the Aviatory's office building.

There were a few computer monitors, each quartered to show a different part of the Eraser's exhibit. Dr. Martinez looked in disgust as she glimpsed at the different screens, watching various Erasers, male and female brutally fight against one another. It was awful.

There were only a few lockers set against the wall. Dr. Martinez knew that there was only one other Eraser caretaker, and a janitor that worked in the department. The caretakers acted as the supervisors and fed the Erasers.

Dr. Martinez looked at a note taped to the door of one locker. It had her name and the locker's combination on it. Jeb must have had someone put it on there.

Dr. Martinez tucked the post it in her pocket. It would take her a while to memorize the combination after a decade of having a different locker combination in the Aviatory.

Then, the door opened. It must be the other caretaker. A man walked in. He looked to be in his late forties judging by the wrinkles on his face. His hair had gray throughout it and he had a scowl on his face.

_He looks like a ball of sunshine._ Dr. Martinez thought dryly as the man's scowl deepened when he saw Dr. Martinez.

"You're the trainee?" He snapped without any sort of introduction or pleasantries.

"Dr. Martinez." said Dr. Martinez curtly. She put out her hand, in case he was going to shake it, but he ignored her gesture.

"Follow me. You'll feed the monsters now." said the whitecoat without another word.

Dr. Martinez scowled, liking her new job less and less. She followed the whitecoat until they reached a room. The whitecoat absentmindedly swiped an access card through a slot in the door and the door made a quiet beeping noise as it swung open.

Without a word, the whitecoat entered the room and Dr. Martinez followed.

There was a large refrigerator against the back wall of the room. Lining one wall, there was a countertop with cabinets above and below it. The whitecoat strode up to the large refrigerator and opened it. He pulled out four large white plastic buckets.

"The meat's fresh, it was made yesterday." The whitecoat said stoically. The whitecoat picked up two of the buckets, one in each hand.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to do your job and get those buckets?" the whitecoat snapped. Furiously seething, but keeping her mouth shut, Dr. Martinez walked over and picked up two of the large buckets.

The whitecoat marched out of the room and Dr. Martinez followed. The whitecoat led her up a staircase and out on to a balcony in a large building.

The building was much like an Aviatory, except it was not a dome. The room was more like an enormous gymnasium, with grass and trees. The room was a large rectangle, but the roof was high and had a Plexiglas ceiling. In the center of the huge gymnasium-like building, there was an extremely thick wall that was made out of Plexiglas also, but it was so thick, that it distorted whatever was on the other side until it was impossible to see what was beyond it.

Along one wall, there was a Plexiglas window, where tourists were peering through to leer at the human-wolf hybrids. Dr. Martinez looked in disgust at the creatures twenty feet below her.

Human wolf hybrids, strictly male human-lupines, were on the ground, fighting each other, and morphing randomly at the tourists behind the window.

Some of the monstrous werewolf-like creatures had noticed that Dr. Martinez and the other nameless whitecoat were at the balcony and were eagerly waiting below it, their drool dripping down to the grassy ground.

"You throw the meat from these buckets to the things down there. Use only two buckets on these ones. Use the other two buckets on the females on the other side of the wall. There's a balcony over there too. I hope that you are capable of chucking meat at a bunch of monsters from a balcony." The whitecoat said quickly. "I recommend that you use gloves."

Dr. Martinez scowled. Right, now, she despised this job. She longed to be back in the Aviatory, with Max and Fang just like in the old times. But that would never be. Max was free and Fang was dead. This was her punishment for letting Max escape.

"I still don't know your name." Dr. Martinez said, trying not to gag as she stared at the raw meat in the buckets that looked nothing like hamburger meat.

"William Pruitt. But I'm Mr. Pruitt to you." Mr. Pruitt said haughtily as he hastily walked back into the building, leaving a fuming Dr. Martinez out on the balcony with four buckets of meat, a bunch of snarling wolf-human creatures twenty feet below, and no gloves. She didn't even have directions to the other balcony so she could feed the female Eraser. The day just kept going downhill. Dr. Martinez was about to hit an all-time low.

Dr. Martinez crinkled her nose as she reached into the raw meat, which was still bloody and scooped a handful. With her being a vegetarian and having gone through medical school, she'd seen a lot of gruesome things. But this… this was barbaric.

She hastily chucked the clump of meat over the side, her hand still stained crimson from the blood that the meat had left behind.

All the Erasers sniffed the air and bolted to their food. They almost immediately morphed.

Razor sharp fangs sprouted into their mouths. Their angelic faces elongated into wolfish snouts and their human eyes became unnatural shades, red and yellow, the colors of wolf eyes. Thick fur ranging from gray to brown to black grew from the hybrids' heavily muscled hides and ragged claws erupted from their fingertips. Their feet became canine paws.

They looked more like monsters from a fairy tale than anything in the park. Well, besides the fire breathing komodo dragons.

One hybrid snapped up the bloody scrap of meat in one gulp. The other human-wolves walked in a strange mix of walking on their hind paws and bounding on all fours. Dr. Martinez wordlessly tossed big handfuls of meat and watched in disgust as the Erasers fought brutally over them.

Dr. Martinez reached into the bucket for another handful of the bloody mystery meat when she stopped cold. She felt something strange in the bucket of meat. Something that didn't belong there.

Slowly, she pulled out a slim, lightweight object, and Dr. Martinez almost lost it. She had pulled on a long, slim black feather. Despite the fact that it was almost snapped in half and looked a little scraggly, Dr. Martinez could still see that the onyx feather glinted purple when the light hit it just right. Dr. Martinez felt hot tears leak from her eyes. Fang.

This feather was no fake. It was too large, much too large to be any other bird's; an no bird had wings like Fang's. Furious, Dr. Martinez picked up the white bucket and turned it upside down over the side of the balcony. The meat fell like an avalanche and The Erasers fought over it in a flurry of claws, teeth, and fur.

Dr. Martinez bit her lip in anger and repeated the action with one other bucket. She took the two now empty buckets and left them on the table in the room with the big white refrigerator.

Gingerly, Dr. Martinez took Fang's feather, and gingerly placed it in the roomy pocket of her white coat. She stomped off down another hall, toting the other two buckets of meat, silently crying bitterly and made no effort to stop it.

This was some sick, sadistic way of getting back at her. This was Jeb's way of getting revenge on her for letting Max escape and letting Ari die, when really, it was all Jebs's fault.

He had made her feed those monsters Fang. They really had put him through a meat grinder. She had to feed him to those worthless dogs. She hated this place more than anything now.

Dr. Martinez made it to the female Erasers' balcony and dumped the buckets' disgusting contents to the snarling female Erasers.

She walked as if she was in a daze back to the small workroom in the Eraser building. She felt Fang's feather in her pocket, the remnants of muscle tissue still clinging to the scraggly strands of silky black feather.

As carefully as she would handle a newborn baby, she took Fang's feather and rinsed it off in the tiny workroom sink. It was the only thing that she had left of Fang, and at least some part of him deserved to have some respect.

She hated herself for it, but deep down, she still clung on to a bit of bitter feelings toward him, even if they were based off of a mere theory. Dr. Martinez couldn't help but wonder if Fang really had given in to Jeb's wishes and gotten Max pregnant. It would explain a great many things on Max's totally out-of-character behavior. If he did, he would pretty much lose most of the respect that Dr. Martinez had for him, even though any other teenager would have given in way earlier, If Fang had given in at all.

Dr. Martinez was just so stressed lately, she wondered if Max was pregnant, and if she was how much trouble and danger she would now be in, Max's depression also made her feel sad, because Max was like a daughter and she wanted more than anything to make Max's pain disappear but dr. Martinez couldn't preform miracles. Dr. Martinez also had to worry about her job, which was at a very critical area. Not to mention that Max and a whole flock of these bird kids were stating at her house at this very moment, which was putting her and Ella in danger in at this very moment, but that was the least of her problems.

She tossed the buckets next to the enormous refrigerator in disgust. She didn't know what she was supposed to do now.

Her snobby coworker was nowhere to be found. It was just her and the Erasers.

-XOXO-

Max sat in the tallest boughs of an enormous pine tree, absently gazing at the miles and miles of greenery with a vacant expression. In the direction behind here, there was the city, the Freak Fest Park and Dr. Martinez's house.

Max only half heard the cries of the birds, singing their songs of the late morning. She now understood what they were saying. The birds did speak Avian, the twittering language that Max and the rest of the human-Avian hybrids could, but the birds only said short, simpleminded words like 'fly' or 'food'. Mostly, they communicated through body language.

Max took a few deep breaths of the pine-scented air. She had to keep control of herself. She was acting ridiculous. She had to be strong, tough. Fang would never be so weak.

Max hardened her heart and roughly kept her emotions locked away. She tried, but couldn't help but see the flashbacks of Fang taking his last breath, and his wonderful dark eyes losing their light.

She gasped at the vividness of the mental image. She heard his heart beat on last faithful time, and then went silent. Max was staring at Fang's dead body all over again.

Her brown eyes focused back into the present. She was once again in the forest.

Max shook her head, making her dirty, tangled brown hair swish. She had to stop doing that. Fang wasn't going to haunt her. She was going to live, at least she was going to live and be exceptionally strong and tough. She was going to learn English. She was going to go on. Then, she was going to punish those who tormented her for her whole life and give justice to Fang. He deserved to be avenged.

Determination was the perfect mask for despair. Hating the whitecoats was the perfect remedy for a crushed soul. It kept her mind off of it.

Max made sure that she was perfectly emotionless as she flew off. She would never be as good as Fang was at hiding emotions, but she would try. She would always try.

She soared back to Dr. Martinez's house at an incredible speed. Her brown and white wigs were just a blur. She backpedaled at the last possible moment. Her feet brushed on the grass and she landed with barely a sound. She wasn't as silent as Fang used to be.

She strode up the front walk, barefooted and looking as if she'd been dragged through the woods. She opened the door. The house appeared to be empty, but Max's keen bird-kid ears picked up the sounds of the little kids in the annex.

Max walked to the closet under the stairs, and saw that the sliding false wall was already slid aside and she could see the hidden room and the chaos within it.

Gazzy and Iggy were sparring in the center. Iggy moved with an astounding grace, considering that he couldn't see where Gazzy was about to strike. Max silently wondered if Iggy was telepathic. He had to be, since he always seemed to know where everyone, what they were doing, and even what they were about to do.

It wouldn't be impossible. She could move at a supersonic speed while flying when she wanted to and Fang had shown her that he could turn invisible. Maybe all bird kids had a built in 'skill'. Maybe telepathy was Iggy's skill. She'd have to ask him.

Iggy hopped backwards as Gazzy aimed a kick at Iggy's midsection. Iggy blocked a punch aimed for his face and he grinned. Gazzy looked frustrated as Iggy jumped over Gazzy's foot as it swept at Iggy's feet, trying to knock him to the floor.

"Good Gazzy, just try to be a little quicker, lighter." Iggy advised as Gazzy tried to hook his foot behind Iggy's knee, in a failed attempt to bring Iggy down. Iggy spun around so fast, that he was like a pale, strawberry blond blur.

Gazzy toppled, unable to injure Iggy at all.

"Good Gazzy. You did great." Iggy grinned. Gazzy didn't smile.

"Oh, you think it's great. I can't even take down a blind guy." Gazzy grumbled in English as he plopped down on the couch. Iggy went over to the mini-fridge in the annex to get a bottled water.

That's when Max saw that Angel and Nudge were sparring as well. Angel was blocking Nudge's every move and Nudge looked frustrated.

"Angel! Don't read my mind! You won't have time to in a real fight! I mean, you'll be too busy fighting for your life to be concentrating on what the bad guy is thinking! It'll come down to how well you can fight in the end!" Nudge complained.

"She's right, Angel. It's great that you are able to do that, but today, let's just practice fighting and fighting alone." Iggy said absently as he unscrewed the cap to his water bottle.

Angel smiled guiltily.

"Oh, alright." Angel consented. Max noticed that Angel stopped blocking every blow, but she was faster and managed to get in a few good blows herself.

Max hadn't understood a word that they had said though. Not understanding had never bothered her so much before. She was even more determined to learn it.

Nudge and Angel were still engaged in a stunning display of hand-to-hand combat and Gazzy was still sulking on the couch when Iggy grinned in Max's general direction.

"Hey, Max. Want to fight? I'm sure Gazzy wants a rematch." Iggy said with a sly smile aimed in Gazzy's direction. Gazzy smirked, thinking that he would have a better chance of beating Max.

Max looked at Iggy, then glanced over at Gazzy.

"Look, kid I don't want to hurt you." Max said flatly as she turned to go back downstairs.

"Hurt me? You'll be lucky if I don't hurt you!" Gazzy shot back, miffed for being underestimated.

Max smirked cruelly.

"Fine, but if I break your face, it's not on me." Max said. Gazzy smiled, but his blue eyes narrowed.

"Bring it." He said, bending his knees and getting into a loose fighting position. Max stepped forward until she was about three feet away from Gazzy.

"And…now!" Iggy shouted like a referee at a wrestling match.

Max stood still, her shoulders back, but her feet apart, as she waited for Gazzy to make the first move, just like Fang had taught her.

Sure enough, Gazzy aimed a high kick that would have been too fast for a human to dodge. Max, however, was no human and easily did a backbend, causing Gazzy's foot to soar through empty space.

While on the ground, Max used her bare feet and kicked Gazzy in the stomach hard, but not too hard. Gazzy doubled over only a little, but it was enough for Max to kick him in the face with another lightning kick. She made sure that she didn't use enough force to cause any lasting damage.

She really, didn't want to hurt the poor kid.

Gazzy stumbled back, and Max nimbly leapt to her feet, back in her almost imperceptible fighting stance.

Gazzy clenched his teeth. He thought that this girl was in the theme park her whole life. How did she learn how to fight? He'd been fighting since he was younger than Angel! He had thought that he would have beaten Max easily, but he was very wrong. He was going to get whooped and have the bruises to prove it.

In a few more blows, it was clear that Gazzy had lost. In a flurry of well-aimed punches and kicks, Max was helping an angry Gazzy to his feet.

"I warned you." Max mumbled. Secretly, she'd softened her blows tremendously so that she wouldn't hurt him.

Gazzy grumbled something.

Where did you learn to fight like that?" Gazzy asked begrudgingly. A stab of pain shot through Max as she remembered her many fighting lessons with Fang.

Max faked a smile.

"My best friend. He could fight better than anybody." Max said softly. "I could teach you some of the tricks that he taught me." Max finished before she had even realized what she was saying. She wondered why she had started caring about these ids. She was just going to leave them eventually.

For reasons that she couldn't explain, she wanted to at least teach the kids a few fighting skills and whatnot. Maybe as a sort of thanks for getting her out of the Freak Fest park, even though it was a painful reminder of Fang's death.

"Maybe you could teach us some of your cool flying tricks too. Like that neat loop-de-loop thing. Or maybe that death drop! Those are amazing!" Nudge started in Avian so that Max could understand her. Nudge was still fighting with Angel.

Max let a small smile slip through her tough exterior.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Max said. Iggy was leaning against the wall, gulping down water from his water bottle, but listening intently to the interesting conversation. He could swear that Max was warming up to the kids. That was good. Maybe if she cared about the Flock, she would see sense and not go on that crazy suicide mission to destroy the Freak Fest Park.

Anytime now, Dr. Martinez would come home and he would go to the store with her to get enough supplies to sustain the Flock for a few days. He just hoped that Dr. Martinez wouldn't have to walk out of the supermarket parking lot broke.

He would leave Nudge at home in charge of the rest of the Flock. Nudge could be a little forgetful and carefree sometimes, but she was there when he needed her and got the job done. Usually, everyone and almost everything came out in one piece in the end. Usually. He hoped that this time would be one of those occasions.

He would tell everyone to keep an extra eye on Max. He hoped with all his heart that nothing catastrophic would happen while he was gone.

With his finely tuned ears, he heard the sound of the lock on the front door clicking open and the sound of the lighter footsteps of a woman entering the house. Dr. Martinez was home.

Iggy walked out of the annex door, out of the cupboard under the stairs, and into the hallway, where Dr. Martinez was.

"Hey, Miss Martinez." Iggy said. Dr. Martinez silently marveled at the blind boy's astounding hearing and coordination.

"Hello Iggy. Are you all set? Okay, tell everyone to get into the van. Then I'll drive you to the store." Dr. Martinez said in a motherly. Iggy felt a strange, unusual panging of some sort of bitter feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was longing. No one had ever really ever treated him this way. Well, maybe except for Anne.

Iggy brusquely pushed all thoughts of Anne away. It had always worked before, and it was going to work now; never think about Anne.

"I…uh, they're not coming. They're staying here with Max. Someone might recognize her. We can't leave her here alone either, so… it'll just be me today." Iggy said as cheerfully as he could muster. He was trying to hide the worry in his voice. Dr. Martinez wanted to object, but Iggy did have a point. Besides, maybe he could talk more about his past without the little kids there. He practically was the single parent to four, now five, children. He deserved a break.

However, Dr. Martinez was still wary. What if something happened while they were away? She would give the kids her cell phone number, of course. There were thousands of other things that could happen, and she didn't want to think about them. Iggy was probably already worrying about them more than a fourteen year old should ever have to.

Ella would be home in an hour or so though. Ella was levelheaded. She could always help and could call her if anything went awry.

"Well, let's get going then. I was going to buy Max some new clothes though…" Dr. Martinez trailed off.

"We'll figure something out eventually. She can't wear the same t-shirt forever. Believe me, I've tried." Iggy said with a hint of humor in his voice. Dr. Martinez smiled. She really liked Iggy. He was a good kid.

Iggy shouted that he was leaving to go to the store with Dr. Martinez, and then smiled apologetically.

"They'll be good. I swear." Iggy said, reassuring himself more than Dr. Martinez.

Dr. Martinez smiled and walked out to the blue van parked in the long driveway. Iggy climbed into the passenger seat and buckled in, Dr. Martinez doing the same. Dr. Martinez backed out of the driveway, and she began the long drive towards the city.

It was quiet. Iggy fiddled with the radio, flipping through various fuzzy rap and country stations.

Dr. Martinez focused on navigating the old van on the dirt road. The road wouldn't be paved until they reached the city's limits, which were a good twenty miles. She liked living out of the city, even though it was a pain to have to drive half an hour to work every day.

"Is it okay if I ask a few questions? I'm sorry, I'm just… curious. I'll tell you what I know, since I know a lot about Max and… just Max, really. You won't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just… you know…" Dr. Martinez said awkwardly. She gripped the steering wheel. Iggy was quiet, staring ahead into nothing.

"That," Iggy said without a definite emotion. "Depends on the question."

Dr. Martinez smiled tightly; momentarily glad that Iggy couldn't see her nervous, but anxious, smile. She was just dying to know about them.

"Well, how did you learn to speak English?" Dr. Martinez asked.

Iggy grimaced. Anne. Anne had taught them everything. When she died, it was like losing his mother, only worse, because she _chose_ him and the rest of them as her kids. He had to learn to move on. How could he look Max in the eyes and tell her to get over Fang and forget the past when he himself couldn't even do it?

Dr. Martinez was the closest thing that he'd encountered that resembled a mother in a long time. He could trust her, mostly. He would skip the more dangerous details.

"Anne. Her name was Anne. She… well she rescued us and brought us somewhere safe. I was ten. She taught us everything. Then, when I was twelve, she went out for a walk, and never came home. We waited two days and she didn't come home." Iggy controlled his voice carefully. He would not start crying like a little lost kid. "I never told the other kids, but I went looking for Anne, just in case she was in trouble." Iggy talked quicker, keeping himself from choking up. "I… I found her."

Dr. Martinez looked over at Iggy, who was staring ahead, stony faced. This had to be hard on him. She somehow knew that he'd never talked about this to anyone, and felt honored that he trusted her so much.

"She was walking by a ravine, it had rained recently and the dirt and rocks were slick. She must have slipped… it was a long drop to the bottom." Iggy said quietly.

Dr. Martinez was horrified. As if his life wasn't hard enough already, the only motherly figure that he'd ever known; he'd seen her broken body at thirteen and had to raise a bunch of kids since.

Dr. Martinez was quiet.

"I'm really sorry. I never meant to… "Dr. Martinez didn't know what to say. Iggy knew what she meant though, and that was all that mattered.

"It's fine. We just never talk about it though. It's just… hard. I mean, ever since then, I've had to take her place too. I love the kids, but they don't know how much that I wish that I could just be one of them. They think that it's easy being the leader, because I get to be in charge, but it's not like that. They don't know how lucky they are to have someone to take care of them, to guide them, to cook for them, to make sure that they aren't hurt and to have someone read them stories and tuck them in at night." Iggy rambled. Nudge was rubbing off on him, but he meant every word.

He never meant to say those words aloud; to anyone. He wouldn't have even let Angel pry the thoughts from his brain. There was just something about Dr. Martinez that made him feel like he could talk to her. Maybe it was that motherly aurora that lulled his senses.

He immediately shut up.

"I never knew…" Dr. Martinez said softly; barely audible. She was too afraid to ask any more questions. She didn't want to upset Iggy.

She was extremely grateful for what he'd told her. She could piece together their past pretty well now. Either that, or he was a shamefully amazing liar, but Dr. Martinez just somehow knew in her heart that he was speaking the total and complete truth.

"You were from the School?" Dr. Martinez asked quietly. For the first time in the whole car ride, Iggy's head whipped over in her direction, looking at her in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"You know about that?" Iggy asked in shock.

"Yeah, I mean, that's where Jeb bought Max from. He bought all of the mutants from the park there. I guess that your Anne rescued you guys from the park before it was found out by the government. I just wonder… why didn't she rescue Max and Fang? That is, if Fang even came from the School." Dr. Martinez said. Fang's limp and broken feather burned in her pocket. She didn't know what she was going to do with it. Reverently bury it, presumably.

Iggy looked lost.

"Anne couldn't have known about them… maybe she didn't have time or they were in a separate room or something. Something had to be in the way. Anne would have never left them without trying to save them." Iggy said firmly. Dr. Martinez was just as lost as Iggy was. This whole story just didn't add up. Something was screwy about it, and when Max learned to speak English, she would learn more about her life back in the School.

It was comfortably quiet as they drove into a grocery store parking lot. They were in the far outskirts of the enormous city.

They walked into the grocery store, and Iggy went and grabbed foods and ingredients for recipes that he knew by heart. He grabbed a few gallons of milk and a few cartons of eggs and orange juice. In the end, he had about two carts filled to the brim of groceries. Dr. Martinez looked in wonder at the carts, but didn't question once. Iggy knew what he was doing.

The checkout clerk looked as if she were about to faint as Iggy and Dr. Martinez began unloading the cart's contents on the counter. Forty five minutes after that and an eye-popping total, Iggy loaded the groceries into the cart in record time. He could carry six bags at a time, easily.

"Might as well put genetic engineering to use." joked Iggy. Dr. Martinez smiled.

"Thanks again, for, you know, doing all this for us." Iggy said.

"Not a problem." Dr. Martinez said. "I just wish that…" Dr. Martinez trailed off. She really wished that the Flock could stay with her. She wished that she had as much money as Jeb had, she'd use it to take care of them, and she wished that Fang had survived, and then Max would be happy. But, in the real world, wishes never came true.

Dr. Martinez almost got in the driver's seat. Then she had a wonderful idea.

"Iggy, have you ever driven?" Dr. Martinez asked. Iggy was thrown for a loop. She was joking. She had to be. Like she would let a _blind_ guy drive. He looked in her direction, a skeptical expression on his face.

"I'll drive a little ways to the dirt road, and the road is pretty much straight. I'll tell you what to do. I've let Ella drive sometimes too. There are never any cops this far out anyways, they stick to the crime-ridden city. "Dr. Martinez said encouragingly. She wanted him to get to be a normal teenager, at least, for the thirty minutes that it took to get back to the house.

Iggy still looked doubtful, but consented.

"I just don't want to kill you after all of the good things that you've done for us." Iggy said flatly.

"We won't die, trust me, don't tell her I said this, but there is no possible way that you can drive worse than Ella." Dr. Martinez smirked. Iggy grinned. Dr. Martinez drove the little ways until she reached the part of the paved road that ended. From that point forward, it was all dirt road and no cars.

She pulled off to the side of the road. Iggy looked excited and nervous, not at all like the put together, carefree leader that she'd seen when he was around the rest of the Flock. Right now, she would let him be a teenager.

She got out of the car and her and Iggy switched sides. Iggy strapped into the driver's side.

He put his hands on the steering wheel, almost as if he was making sure that he was actually in the driver's side.

"You're really going to let me drive?" Iggy asked. Dr. Martinez laughed, she couldn't help it. She'd seen him fight burly grown men without an ounce of fear, and here he was, behind the wheel of a beat up old van, a little nervous.

"Of course, Iggy." Dr. Martinez said warmly. She quickly explained where the pedals, the brake, the gear shift, and everything else was.

Iggy grabbed the wheel, more firmly now. He put the van into driving mode and carefully drove the van back into the road.

"I'll tell you when you've reached the speed limit." Dr. Martinez said. A bead of sweat trickled off of Iggy's brow.

"Hey, it's fine. Relax. You're doing great!" Dr. Martinez exclaimed encouragingly. Iggy felt like he was torn between a thousand different emotions, he was nervous about driving, nervous about the Flock, exhilarated at the thought that he was really driving, terrified at the thought that he was driving, and so, so happy that Dr. Martinez was being the mother that he'd been deprived of. She was teaching how to drive, just like a real parent would. He felt a pang as he thought of Anne, but he hurt less about Anne somehow.

Maybe saying all that stuff to Dr. Martinez had helped a little.

Iggy was driving the speed limit of thirty-five, steady and straight like he was an old pro.

"So, have you driven before?" Dr. Martinez asked casually. He drove so well, it was eerie. No one that she'd ever met or heard of drove this well on their first time driving. And Iggy was blind.

"No, Nudge has, but I haven't. We've had a few times that we've had to drive, and the Flock would rather have Nudge drive since she can see and all." Iggy said easily, but there was a miniscule edge of bitterness in his voice. Dr. Martinez understood.

He resented being blind, he was the oldest, and he had to let a younger person drive before he did because he could see. It had hurt his pride, but of course, Iggy never showed that sort of emotions.

Iggy was smiling, too at peace and happy to care about anything else at the moment. He was driving! He was actually driving! And no one was dying or suffering! He'd always wanted to drive, and now he was!

Dr. Martinez's call phone rang in a jazzy tune and she picked it up.

"Hello?" Dr. Martinez said pleasantly into the phone. "Hey Ella. How was school?"

It was quiet for a minute and Dr. Martinez's smile slowly faded. Iggy didn't know that, of course.

"Right. We'll be right home. Don't call an ambulance. Who knows what will happen if the paramedics get a hold of her." Dr. Martinez said in a businesslike tone. Dr. Martinez hung up the phone.

"Since there are no police around, go ten miles faster. We have to get home. Nudge has fallen, and she won't get up." Dr. Martinez said darkly.

**I apologize for the lateness, but did you see the size of this thing? That's what I thought. Slight cliffy, sorry, but it was just getting too dull for me. **


	18. Things That Go Awry

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride and I never will. **

**This chapter is to those of you who wish that Iggy was less perfect. You know who you are. This is for you. **

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Dr. Martinez saw Iggy's normally pale skin tone grow to an unnatural shade of gray. He didn't say anything, but the terrified look in his eyes mad Dr. Martinez even tenser than before.

"You drive." Iggy said quickly as he pulled over into the spring green grass on the side of the dirt road and parked the car.

"No, Iggy. I told you that you could drive home, and that's what you're going to do. Now, under the circumstances, I will allow you to go ten miles faster. I'll tell you when to pull into the driveway." Dr. Martinez said quickly.

Iggy looked over at the passenger seat skeptically.

"I'm sure!" Dr. Martinez said in a clipped tone. Iggy shrugged and stepped on to the gas pedal, then remembered to change the gear from 'park' and into 'drive'.

Iggy tore down the road at sixty miles an hour, driving so that no one would ever guess that he was blind. Red dust billowed behind in the van's wake.

Dr. Martinez gripped the armrests, hoping that Iggy couldn't sense her fear and unease. She couldn't lose a bird kid. Not another one. It would be her fault if Nudge died, like it was partially her fault that Fang died. Dr. Martinez could bear to be responsible for not one, but two bird kids' deaths.

Iggy's fingers gripped the steering wheel like his life depended on it. His knuckles were a ghostly white. He blamed himself for this. He knew that should have never left them alone. He was hoping that maybe, just for once, that noting catastrophic would happen for the hour or so that he was gone. This was the Flock though; disaster followed them like a lost puppy.

"Iggy, slow down, we're almost to the driveway." Dr. Martinez said, with a tense edge in her voice She too was worried about Nudge. Iggy put pressure on the brakes and reduced the speed to fifteen miles an hour as he careened into a turn, narrowly missing the mailbox and almost giving Dr. Martinez a heart attack. Iggy parked the van abruptly and yanked the keys out of the ignition.

"Do you see her?" Iggy asked, trying to keep breathing and remain calm.

"No. Come on, we'll go inside and see if they are there." Dr. Martinez said as she led Iggy into the house.

Iggy was so, so afraid that Nudge had gotten hurt… or worse. He had no idea what happened, but it had to be bad, if Nudge wouldn't get up. Nudge had broken bones and not even shed a single tear over it. That was enough evidence to prove that it was serious.

Iggy, who was deep in thought, forgot about the last step on the porch. Iggy stumbled over it and fell, smacking his head against the dusty wood on the porch.

Dr. Martinez gasped. Great, now another bird kid was down.

"Iggy, are you alright? Oh, this is all my fault!" Dr. Martinez said as she walked over to Iggy, so that she could help him up.

"I think that I have a splinter up my nose." Iggy groaned. He sat up, massaging his forehead, where a bruise was sure to form.

Dr. Martinez offered to help him up, but he brusquely declined. Dr. Martinez quickly turned and opened the door.

They stepped inside, and Iggy almost wanted to kill himself, because that was just one of those moments where he really, truly despised being blind. There were sounds of panic coming from Angel, Gazzy and Ella. Iggy heard Dr. Martinez's footsteps hurry away. He followed the sound of her footsteps to the bottom of the staircase.

"What happened? Where's Nudge?" Iggy said irritably. He hated it when his lack of vision literally kept him in the dark.

It was Max who spoke, instantly silencing the others. Iggy was silently surprised. He had thought that Max would have fled from the noise and drama that was happening in a language that she could not understand.

"She fell down the stairs. I saw. She was running and tripped. She fell all the way down, and when she hasn't moved from the bottom since." Max said in Avian, laving Dr. Martinez behind in the conversation.

"Is she breathing?" Iggy asked quickly. He couldn't, wouldn't lose Nudge. It would be totally and completely his fault. He never should have left them home alone. "Where is she?" Iggy asked in Avian, considering that Gazzy and Angel had gone deathly quiet.

"I put her on the couch. She's breathing, so she's not… dead." Max said, her voice stumbling over the last word. She still hated the concept of things close to her dying; it brought only painful flashbacks of Fang's dying expression. Max grabbed the sleeve of Iggy's jacket and dragged him over to the couch in the living room.

Iggy almost melted in relief. He heard Nudge's breathy breathing. She was alive. It was like the weight of a skyscraper had been lifted off of his shoulders. There was just something about the thought of losing Nudge, his second in command, which made him feel like he was about to keel over. When he had to do something or needed time alone, Nudge was the one he could rely on. Sometimes, she would do some pretty dumb things or just lose it, but she was only twelve.

Iggy brushed some of Nudge's corkscrew brown curls out of her face.

"She's only unconscious. She'll wake up in an half an hour or so, but she'll have one nasty bruise on the back of her head when she wakes up." Dr. Martinez said after a quick examination. Iggy, relieved, stood up. He sat in a chair next to the couch, waiting for Nudge to wake up. Angel whispered something to Gazzy, and he nodded and the two siblings took off into the annex. Max stayed behind with Iggy. Ella murmured something about homework and took off into her room. Dr. Martinez took this as a good excuse to get the groceries into the house.

"You look tired." Max said finally, after a moment of silence. Iggy turned his head in the direction. "I am." Iggy admitted. "Being the leader has its disadvantages; one of them being the fact that I'm not allowed to sleep in."

"You can go sleep. I'll watch them. After you wake up and we eat, you can show me how to speak _English_." Max said, saying the only human word that she knew strangely. She pronounced it 'Eengliush'. Iggy smiled tiredly.

"That's really… unusual for you Max. Thanks. Don't run away while I'm gone." Iggy smiled so that Max would know that he was kidding. He was only half-kidding though. He wished that he could see her expression.

"I won't I still have to learn how to speak human. Besides, the little boy, Gazzy, really wants me to teach him how to do some of the flying show tricks." Max said, her voice expressing a little bit of contentment, the most that Iggy had ever heard coming from her. He grinned, really grinned, like he hadn't done in a long time. She was happy here, with them. Maybe, eventually, she would give up on the suicide mission and move on with her life. She would see that she was given a chance at life for a reason. He knew that she would like life with them… with him.

His heart fluttered involuntarily. It would take a while, but Max would move on. He knew that she would. Not only would she love life with the Flock and learn to live with them, but maybe she'd learn to love another again. Maybe she'd love him; that's what he secretly hoped. He wouldn't say anything though. He wouldn't say that if he could have a single wish, it would be for Max to be his beta-his second in command and his girlfriend. They would lead the Flock together. That was if she was going to forget Fang. Presently, that situation wasn't looking too optimistic for him, but he was willing to wait.

Max almost smiled in his direction.

"Go on and go to sleep. I'll try to keep the little scoundrels from bothering you." Max said, smirking. Iggy smiled. He stood up and ruffled his strawberry blond hair.

"You'll have to watch after Nudge too, until she wakes up. Are you sure you want to do this?" Iggy asked, even though he was really hoping that she would say yes. He would kill to get just ten minutes of sleep.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. I'll wake you up when they start complaining that they are hungry." Max said. Iggy shot her a grateful smile as he walked to the annex, down the stairs, and unceremoniously tripped over a toy car that Gazzy had always managed to keep on his person, no matter wherever they went. Iggy muffled his cursing, considering that the kids were upstairs and would hear him. That was three cases of stair-tripping in the Flock in a single day. This had to be a record.

Max snickered into her hand. Iggy heard her laughter, and suddenly, he wasn't mad or in pain anymore. He stood up and walked off to the bedroom, where he flopped on the mattress and almost instantly drifted off into unconscious bliss.

Meanwhile, Max took Angel and Gazzy to the living room. She would teach them some of the fighting moves that Fang had taught her. They were thrilled.

"Hey, Gazzy, is it?" Max said. Gazzy bobbed his head as he dodged a blow. "Good," Max said to him. "You're getting better. But, how do you say 'asleep' in _English_." Max said, still mispronouncing the word English. Angel smiled. She told Max, and it took a few tries before she could pronounce it without a problem. Dr. Martinez walked into the room. Nudge was still out cold.

"Hey, do you guys know where Iggy is? I thought that he was going to help me with dinner." Dr. Martinez said. Max looked at her. Gazzy and Angel grinned at her and quickly repeated the question to Max. Max allowed herself a small smile.

"Asleep." Max said. Gazzy and Angel grinned. "We taught her that one!" they said. Dr. Martinez looked stunned.

"Wow… that's great!" Dr. Martinez said. She smiled at Max. "If Iggy is asleep though, I won't wake him. He can help me cook tomorrow." Dr. Martinez said as she went off into the kitchen to fix dinner.

Max felt warm for the first time since before Fang died. She felt happy, and for the first time since Fang, she felt like she was a part of something bigger than herself.

-XOXO-

In the months that passed, Nudge got back to being her normal, prattling self. Max had warmed up to the Flock. And she pretty much could speak English well. It was like bird kids were built to learn new languages. It came easily to her; which was a relief to Iggy. Although Max still had the nightmares of Fang dying, they weren't quite as bad as they were in the first week or so.

Iggy was happier than he could remember. He was so relaxed. Max helped him lead. She came to leading naturally. It was almost like it was in her DNA. The Flock liked Iggy's carefree way of leading, but they loved Max. To them, she was like the mother that they'd lost when Anne died.

She and Iggy split the responsibility of leading, and gradually, she took more and more responsibility. Iggy wasn't really the leader anymore, Max was, but she always looked to him usually for the final call. He knew that eventually, he'd be the one in second command with Max leading.

He could not see a single problem with that arrangement. Leading really wasn't his preferred style anyways. He was more go-with-the-flow types anyways. Max actually seemed to like leading. He sure liked the second-in-command thing.

The Flock wasn't going to him for every single little problem, they were going to Max. He actually got to sleep in. To his surprise, he didn't miss leading, although he did still tuck Angel in at night. One night, while tucking Angel into bed, Iggy overheard Max telling Nudge a story. As he listened, he figured out that it was about her and Fang back in the Aviatory.

_Please keep this PG, Max. We don't need her up all night with nightmares…again._ Iggy thought warily. Angel giggled. He made a face at Angel.

"What did I tell you about reading my thoughts?" Iggy said in a false stern tone. Angel smiled.

"Don't worry. She's telling her about the time that Fang and she discovered that the other person had a 'skill'. Kind of like we do." Angel said. Iggy raised an eyebrow.

Max still hadn't figured out that Angel could read minds. She had learned that he was not telepathic, but had very keen senses, even for a bird kid. She also learned that Gazzy could mimic voices and Nudge could control metal. He didn't know that Max and Fang had 'skills' too. Maybe all bird kids had built in skills.

"What can she do?" Iggy asked Angel quietly, so Max wouldn't overhear, now that she understood English, it had become a lot harder to hide conversations from her.

"Max can fly at the speed of light, kind of like the super speed on a spaceship in the movies, and Fang could turn invisible." Angel said, her voice dropping until it was barely audible at the last part. Max still tended to stare off silently into the distance whenever the subject of Fang came up.

Iggy was still hoping that given time, Max would eventually get over Fang and move on. Hopefully, move on to him. He would give her as much time as she needed. He just wished that she'd move on quicker, but you really couldn't rush stuff like this.

He listened to Max, like he always had. She was the mothering type, even when no one had taught her how. She was just a natural mother. It was one of the things that he really liked about her.

Angel looked at Iggy sympathetically.

"She doesn't love you Iggy. She won't ever. I'm sorry. But, there is someone…" Angel started quietly, looking at the pattern on the duvet. Iggy looked in her direction sharply.

"Sometimes, Angel, it would be better if you wouldn't read minds." Iggy said in a flat tone that he almost never used. Angel pulled her duvet up to her chin.

"I was only trying to help. Max loves Fang. She always will. She gave everything to him. She doesn't have anything left to give anyone. She will always love him. There isn't anything that you can do." Angel said quietly. Iggy hoped that she didn't mean some of that the way that he was taking it. If Max really did give it 'all' to Fang, then they might be in more trouble that he originally thought. Maybe Ella's early assumption that Max was pregnant was right after all.

Angel didn't know about all of that big-kid stuff though, at least, as far as Iggy knew.

That thought didn't lighten his mood. He knew that Angel was right. She wouldn't lie. He knew that she was trying to help, in her own way. But it really was the last thing that he wanted to hear. He really didn't want to believe that.

"Goodnight, Angel." Iggy said darkly as he stormed out of the room. Max saw Iggy leave and stomp up the stairs to the annex's living room.

"I'll go see what's wrong with him. You go on to bed." Max said with an edge of sternness in her soft voice. Nudge knew better than to argue. She went to bed, even though she wanted to be the one to console Iggy. Nudge snuggled into the other bed.

Max slept on the couch, so that Angel and Nudge could have their own beds.

Max followed Iggy up the stairs. He was sitting on the couch, his arms propped up on his knees, his hands ruffling his long-ish strawberry blond hair. His eyes were closed.

Max walked over to him quietly, her bare feet padding softly against the shiny wood flooring. She sat down next to him, completely quiet.

After five minutes or so, Max finally spoke.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a quiet voice, so that the kids wouldn't hear her from downstairs. Iggy didn't reply. She spoke in English, because she liked to practice her second language whenever she could.

"Nothing, Max. Just… thinking." Iggy said.

"Something. I know you by now, you're my friend." She said, peering at his face, half hidden by the reddish-golden strands of hair concealing his pained expression.

He cringed at the word 'friend'.

"Max, did you and Fang ever…" Iggy trailed off. This was going to be one very long, very uncomfortable conversation. He took a breath and went on. He had to know. "Did you and Fang ever…make love?"

Iggy felt his cheeks get hot. He knew that his face was probably blood red. This was a whole lot more awkward than he would have ever dreamed.

"Well… yeah. I mean, I guess that's what you would call it." Max replied uncomfortably. Iggy's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Angel _was_ right. More than she knew. Max probably was pregnant, and now they were all in double-trouble. She would never like him more than a friend now. The chances of that were dwindling into hopeless percentages.

"It's just, a really hard thing to put into words. 'Love' really isn't a word in Avian. Not the way that humans use it. I loved him. I love him now, a lot. I know he loved me too. I just wish that I could have told him before he… he…" Max didn't go any farther. Now Iggy was confused; it sounded like Max didn't quite understand what he had meant.

"Max, I don't mean it like that. I mean… it's more of a human expression, I guess the better Avian expression would be to 'breed'. I guess… I don't know." Iggy said, running his hand through his hair uncomfortably. He hated how this conversation was going.

Max looked at him blankly. Iggy sighed, and bluntly told her, in a quiet voice, so that no one downstairs would get nightmares, exactly what he meant. After Iggy had finished speaking, Max stared at the floor; deep in thought.

Iggy took this as a bad sign.

"Why do you want to know?" Max asked finally. "Because, Max… we could be in a lot of trouble if you say yes. More than you realize." Iggy said, totally avoiding the answer.

"But you just said that I could have a baby if we did, why would that be bad? That would be good, right? Fang wouldn't be dead, not really. He'd still be alive in the baby, wouldn't he?" Max asked innocently. Iggy just somehow knew what Max's answer to his original question was. He draped his hands lazily on his lap and clenched his fists.

_Angel was right._ A voice taunted in Iggy's head. _She doesn't like you; she will always love Fang, even when she hides it. _

"No, Max. That would be bad. That is why Fang was put in the Aviatory in the first place. The park wanted for you two to have kids. They would have taken them away, and you would never see them again. The same thing goes now. We would be in constant danger if you had a baby. The park would stop at nothing to get it. Even kill us all. Besides, Fang is dead. You didn't do… it, right?" Iggy said. Max stiffened. Something about the way that Iggy said it really rubbed Max the wrong way. Why was he being such a jerk about it?

"What is your problem? Yes, Fang is dead! Why do you have to keep reminding me?" Max growled. "What's it to you? If you're so worried about dying because I might have a baby, I'll leave. It was nice knowing you." Max said angrily. She stood up from the couch, ready to go out the door. Iggy swiped at her wrist, but missed.

"Max!" Iggy snapped. She turned around to look at him.

"What?" She asked irritably.

"I just… wondered. That's all. I don't want you to go. You're one of us now, and we'll stick with you, no matter what." Iggy said quietly. Max smiled a tiny smile, her anger forgotten.

"No." Max answered simply. Iggy stared in the direction of her voice. "Fang and I kissed. That's all. I wanted to just go along to whatever I felt like doing but… I don't know, something felt… wrong after a certain point. Like an alarm was going off, when we went so far."

Iggy looked at the ground. So he was wrong about her. They had never done anything of that sort. And I wasn't because they were stupid. They did have some sort of conscience looking out for them.

Suddenly, Iggy didn't feel like he like Max so much anymore. Maybe knowing that t was a lost cause anyways helped him get over it.

_That's good, because Nudge likes you, more than a Flock member. She likes you like you liked Max. She would be more than happy to…_ said a sweet, female voice in Iggy's head. Iggy's face went pale, then red. Angel had eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Everything. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Besides, he wasn't ready to move on to another girl quite yet. Nudge was still… young. Maybe in a year or two…

It was silent.

"I'm going to bed." Iggy said. He walked downstairs. "G-night,"

"Goodnight, Iggy." Max said as she watched Iggy descend the stairs. Max waited until she heard no more sounds from the annex before she left the note on the couch.

Max would miss that place, Dr. Martinez and how nice she was. Dr. Martinez had bought her new clothes, made the best cookies she'd ever eaten, and taken care of Max since she was little. Not to mention, she kept Max informed about what was happening back at the Freak Fest Park. Now, the whitecoats wouldn't let Dr. Martinez back into the Aviatory, at all, no matter what. It was like they were hiding something. Max would find out, tonight; when she left to take down the Freak Fest amusement park, once and for all. She knew that she wasn't going to come out alive, so she made sure that she remembered this place. It was the only place that she would call home.

It housed the only people that she would call family; Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy. They were her family, the only thing that she'd cared about since Fang. She loved being a part of a family, and was glad that she got to feel what having a real family was like before she joined Fang in death. Ella was like a sister too, although it was not quite the same as the Flock. There was something about them all sharing bird genes that made Max fell like they bonded more.

Max sighed and slipped out of the annex without a sound. She'd memorized where all the furniture was, so that she wouldn't trip over it and knock anything over, making noise and waking everyone up. They'd never let her go. She had to. She had promised Fang, and her conversation with Iggy had only reminded her of where promise to him.

She was grateful to Iggy for one thing. He had called her family, and she would remember that. He was the best big brother that she could ask for, but she was going to be with Fang again, even if it meant leaving her new family behind.

Max quietly opened the door, and slipped into the night. She had stashed a few useful things in her pockets before she had left, however. While the rest of the Flock was getting ready for bed, she was taking a few things that would help her on her quest.

Max held her breath, and used her skill to fly faster that a jet. Her brown and blond hair whipped behind her, and the feeling was so exhilarating, that she smiled. It might be that last time that she had a chance to.

Max was at the Aviatory's dome in seconds, and she circled around it. It was strange, because she was flying on the outside, looking inside. She still remembered when she was trapped inside, looking outside. Max grimaced as she landed on the edge of the Plexiglas roof, where the clear plastic dome met the cement of the wall. She fished around in her jacket pocket and finally found what she was looking for. A bomb, and a very, very small one at that.

Earlier that week, Gazzy had bragged about creating a bomb that could break through solid iron, but would barely make a sound. Gazzy had showed the all that he wasn't bluffing. Unfortunately, he tried it indoors. That was a disaster. Max had nicked one from the pile and no one had noticed.

Max smiled faintly at the memory. She stuck the bomb to the wall and jumped off the roof. She quickly spread her brown and white wings and soared off as far as she could. Ten seconds later, there was a quiet bang, like the sound of a shutter slamming against a window in a light summer breeze.

Max glided back to the spot to where she's set the bomb off. It had indeed, worked. Where a large window pane once was, there was a hole. Hopefully, no one would notice that a pane was missing until later in the morning. Max slid through the hole and landed quietly in the grass she remembered all too well. She inhaled a deep breath; it was a very familiar scent to her. Like a hundred different types of trees, freshly mowed grass, unearthed soil, and clean water. Basically, a man-made version of the outside woods. Max had grown to love the real woods, especially the woods outside of Dr. Martinez's house. She would wander aimlessly for hours in the woods, just looking. This was pathetic compared to the real thing, and it was all that she had ever known up until a few months ago.

Max tore through the woods and ran through the path that she knew so well, all the way to the Examination room. The wall was open like it almost always was and Max reached the door, that was usually electrified. Max pulled a small silver jack out of her pocket, one of Ella's old toys that she'd let Angel have, and Max threw it against the door. Nothing happened.

Max touched the doorknob. Nothing. No electricity or nothing. However, the door was still locked. Iggy had taught her how to pick locks with the simplest of tools. Now if she could just find that hairpin and nail-file…

"You shouldn't be here." A voice said flatly. The lights went on and Max was temporarily blinded by the sudden light. Max couldn't breathe and her heart stopped cold in her chest. She wasn't afraid that she'd gotten caught, though she'd hoped that she would have gotten farther before she would be killed. The voice came from behind her.

They'd trapped her. She didn't see anyone when she'd came in, so there was definitely something strange at play here. They knew that she was coming. Max was mad, because if they'd been expecting her, then they'd kill her and she wouldn't even get to kill one whitecoat.

She was also upset, because she broke her final promise to Fang. She said that she was going to kill them all. She wouldn't even get to kill one.

However, Max slowly turned around. Maybe she could stun her opponent. She dropped the nail-file that she was about to open the door with. It clanged against the white marble floor.

After Max saw the one who'd trapped her, she didn't have a single dang plan for what to do next.

Standing, halfway in the light, the fluorescent light bulb making his skin sickly pale, was Fang.

**Bet you didn't see THAT coming. If you did, kudos to you. That's not the only trick that I have up my sleeve. If you want to see those twists and action, feel free to review. All reviews are accepted. **


	19. Captive in More Ways than One

**This chapter is dedicated to rocketdog791, who helped me update ASAP. By the way, I'm back in school. Yay. Not….**

**Freak Fest Chapter 19:**

Max stood still, perfectly frozen in place. Her eyes were glued to Fang, who did not reveal an ounce of emotion. Max understood that he was a stoic statue when it came to being emotional, but she wanted to see some sort of emotion flicker in his dark, glittering black eyes. Fang stared at her in return, his gaze so intense, that Max had a desperate urge to look away, but she didn't. She was just too stunned.

"Fang…" Max said quietly, like she didn't quite believe it herself. It was the first time that she'd said the name aloud since she thought that he died. He _did_ die. She'd watched him die, an then was tortured by re-living Fang's death in her nightmares.

"You shouldn't be here." Fang repeated in the same flat voice.

"You're dead. You have to be dead. I… I watched you. I would have never left if I knew…" Max said brokenly. Max blinked, and opened her eyes again to see Fang standing there. His tall, dark figure and smoldering gaze was still very much there.

"Go, before it's too late." Fang warned. He made no movements and looked almost like a dark phantom haunting the place where his life ended. Max hoped that he was real. She just didn't want to lose him and feel the pain of it all over again.

Max took a step forward, then another.

"Max," Fang said in a slightly more serious tone. His eyes were trained on her approaching feet. He looked at her, almost in fear, as Max walked closer and closer until she was face to face with Fang.

Fang stepped back.

"Don't get any closer!" Fang said darkly. Max stopped, wondering if she really was hallucination or seeing Fang's ghost.

"Show me that you're not dead." Max said, soft enough, but it clearly wasn't up for debate.

Without a word, Fang took another step back. He extended his wings, all fifteen feet of them, and plucked a soft, downy feather from one of them.

He threw it in Max's direction and it gently floated in her general direction. Max snatched it from the air and examined it. It was tangible, soft, and glistened violet in the faint fluorescent light coming from the Examination room. Max could even smell the earthy, musky scent that lingered on it. It was Fang's feather. He was there, he was real, he was _alive_.

"I missed you." Max said, barely above a whisper. "We can escape, I'll show you the way out, we can get out of here!"

Fang merely looked at her.

"I know about the way out. The window, but I can't leave. Not with you, not ever." Fang replied, as unreadable as ever. Max was perplexed, but still mostly in shock. After all this time, Fang was here.

She had been heartbroken for months. Now, it all hit her like a train. She had a purpose, a real one, a reason to abort this suicide mission. She had a real reason to live again.

"What do you mean? Of course we can get out of here! Follow me." Max said, itching to leave .Maybe the Flock would be so happy that she'd come back alive, that they'd forget that she'd left in the first place.

Max turned and took a few long, running strides towards the window. Fang stood still. He made no movements towards her or the exit.

"What's wrong with you? We've got to get out of here!" Max said impatiently. She wondered why he was acting so weird. She had no idea what the whitecoats had done to him, but that could all be over and in the past if he would just come with her.

"Hurry, go! Leave!" Fang said in a voice that clearly meant business.

Max scowled.

"There is no way that I'm leaving without you." Max said in an equal, even tone.

Then, Fang doubled over, as if he'd been slugged in the gut. Max took a step towards him, about to run over and make sure that he was okay, when he shouted at her.

"Get out of here, Max! Don't turn around and don't come back!" Fang yelled through a pained expression. " I don't want to hurt you."

"No, I won't! You're coming with me!" Max barked in the leaderly tone that she'd acquired through life as the temporary leader of the Flock.

Fang turned his head up to look at her, but his eyes looked so regretful and sad, that Max sucked in a breath.

"I'm sorry." Fang said quietly. Suddenly, almost in the blink of an eye, Fang's skin was covered with coarse black fur and his fingertips sprouted raggedly sharp claws. His bare feet morphed into the hind legs of a canine. He remained the same height, but his dangerously handsome face contorted and twisted until it resembled that of a snarling wolf's. The only thing that remained the same besides his height was his depthless onyx eyes.

Fang had become the very thing that he hated the most. Fang was an Eraser.

Max stared, disbelieving at his fate. The Eraser that was Fang locked eyes with Max, his eyes portraying the deepest sorrow and despair and worst of all, shame. Then, all emotion left his eyes except for that soul-sucking darkness that Max had only seen on him twice before; when he had killed Dylan and when he had tried to kill her.

Then, Eraser-Fang lunged. He was going to kill her.

Max turned and ran, because there was nothing left to do.

Max sprinted through the trees. She heard a terrible, mournful howl behind her then heard the brush crash behind her. There was no snarling or growling, Fang was silent, unlike any other Eraser.

Soon, the only things that Max heard were her own footsteps and the pounding of her heart. There were no snapping twigs or rustling of leaves to warn her of Fang's whereabouts, and that's what scared her.

She reached a clearing, spread her wings and took off into the air. Max was heartbroken, only this time, it was worse. There was Fang, and they couldn't be together. Heck, she'd never see him again. She wanted desperately to do something, anything that could make Fang Avian-human again and then they could get the heck out of there. But obviously, Fang couldn't control his morphing. He'd kill her before they would make it to Dr. Martinez's house.

Then, Max felt herself falling from the sky and began to plummet to the ground. Something was holding her wings together. There was nothing there, she couldn't see anything. Max corkscrewed wildly, as a crazy attempt to make her wings work again.

Then, Eraser-Fang appeared out of thin air. Of course, he could turn invisible. She'd forgotten about that. The small sliver of hope that the Eraser pursuing her was just anything but the real Fang died instantly. Only she knew that Fang could disappear. Eraser-Fang still had his huge, raven-like wings, and how he managed to stay aloft while fully morphed into a wolf monster was a mystery.

Max spread her wings and glided, not a moment too soon. She was inches above the evenly cut grass.

Fang dived from above her and they crashed towards the ground.

They rolled on the grassy ground. In a flash, they were both on their feet, or in Fang's case, paws. Fang bared his ivory colored fangs at her. In any other circumstance, Max would have cracked a smile. Fang had fangs.

This was hardly the time for humor. Max was quick and light on her feet, but despite his muscle and size, Fang was too. The fought in a combative routine that almost looked like a brutal dance.

Max's punches and kicks made almost no impact on Fang, and on the rare occasion that they did, he quickly returned the favor.

Max stared desperately in his obsidian irises, but found nothing, but the pity-free, murderous glare staring back at her.

Max was no match for the pure muscle density of an Eraser, especially an Eraser as lethal in fighting as Fang was.

Max was quick though, and she saw an opening in Fang's defenses and brought down a solid slam on Eraser-Fang's collarbone.

Fang bared his teeth in a ferocious snarl. Max could tell that it hurt, but didn't cause any lasting damage that she could use to her advantage.

Quick as a snake's strike, Fang swung a hard blow to the side of Max's head. Max's vision flickered and sparkled like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Her head snapped sideways, and she fell to the ground; the incredibly powerful Eraser-strength blow was enough to make Max barely conscious.

Eraser Fang kicked Max in the ribs, not breaking or cracking any, but badly bruising them. It took all that Max had to not hiss in pain.

Furious, Max grabbed a handful of dirt and small pebbles from the ground and unexpectedly threw it in Eraser- Fang's face. Fang snarled, clawing at his eyes. Max struggled, but managed to get to her feet. While Eraser-Fang was preoccupied, Max swung her leg in a fearsome roundhouse kick that landed squarely in the middle of Eraser-Fang's chest. He stumbled back, silently gasping for breath.

Eraser-Fang quickly regained his composure and snapped his elbow forward, catching Max on her chest, making blood come out of her mouth in a fine mist. Max dropped like a rock into a heap on the ground.

Eraser-Fang leaned down, ready to rip her throat out and end her short, miserable life.

"Fang, I know that you can hear me. You don't have to kill me. You're not a murderer." Max croaked, blood dripping from her bottom lip.

His lupine ears twitched as he heard Max's words. His eyes looked puzzled and confused. His clawed hands clutched his unrecognizable wolf face.

Eraser-Fang fell on the ground, still clutching his head. His Eraser mouth was furiously trying to form words, but an Eraser was not built to make the twittering sounds that are required for speaking Avian. Fang instantly morphed into his normal, Avian human self.

"Max," Fang said. His voice was rough and cracked from morphing, but at least he could speak Avian. He didn't move from his spot on the ground.

Max was by his side, kneeling so that she could look at his face. She was about to say something, but Fang beat her to it.

"I can't keep this up, this fighting. You can do something for me though." Fang said through his clenched, human teeth.

"What?" Max asked. What was he talking about? He wasn't making any sense. Maybe he still had a lingering Eraser brain.

"Kill me." Fang said urgently, sweat dripping from his forehead. He was suppressing the Eraser transformation, but it wouldn't last long. Sooner rather than later, he would morph, and become hell-bent on killing her.

He had to be crazy. For one thing, Max would never do that anyways.

"Max, please, I'll kill you if you don't. I don't want to hurt you. Kill me!" Fang growled. Max didn't want to. She wouldn't. She'd rather have him kill her than the other way around. Max scooted back a little.

"No, I won't." she said. Fang was trying to say something, but it was only a canine growl. His eyes looked at her desperately.

"I can't live like this. Just kill me." Fang was practically begging, something that Max never thought that he would do. "Kill me!" Fang shouted, the words echoing through Max's ears.

Max looked at him desperately. There had to be a loophole, a way around it. There had to be an alternative, because there was no way that it could end like this.

Max struggled to her feet; shakily putting the heel of her combat boot on Fang's throat. He was shuddering, a sure sign that he was about to morph and lose all rational thought.

A rogue tear almost fell from Max's eye, but she hastily wiped it away. It couldn't end like this.

"Hurry!" Fang urged. "Just do it." He gave Max one last, desperate glance before shrinking in defeat as his mouth elongated into a snout and razor sharp Eraser fangs replaced his human teeth. Fang's tanned skin was replaced by thick black fur and his eyes were once again filled with a paralyzing coldness.

Max leapt back, and the Eraser Fang was on his feet.

Desperately, Max pieced together some sort of plan. She would knock Fang out, then somehow, she'd find the strength to fly him out the window that she'd broken to get in, and in the unlikely chances of that, she'd bring him back to Dr. Martinez's house and then… Fang would still be an Eraser. He could kill everyone; her, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, even Dr. Martinez and Ella. No, she would knock him out, and then she would get Fang out, and take him somewhere where no one would find them. At least her old family would be safe. Max was out of plans, and out of luck.

Eraser-Fang cuffed Max on the side of the face, so hard that it made her spin around is a circle like a merry-go-round.

Dazed, Max still managed another roundhouse kick to Eraser-Fang's chest that would have killed a regular man, it only made Fang take half of a step backwards.

Max took two more staggering hits, one to the gut and the other to the side of her face again. Max was really sick of seeing stars that weren't really there. She threw a punch for Eraser's Fang's face.

Eraser-Fang turned his head toward her incoming fist and clamped his jaws on to her arm. Max suppressed a shriek of pain. Dagger-like fangs buried themselves into Max's flesh and her blood seeped into Eraser-Fang's mouth. Eraser-Fang tightened his hold on Max until the spine-chilling snap of broken bone echoed in the Aviatory. Max bit her lip so hard, that it started to bleed.

She ignored the pain because it as a weakness in a fight, Fang had told her that.

Eraser-Fang could have easily ripped her arm off, but let go. Max stumbled back; holding her injured arm close to her chest. Max's blood dripped from Eraser-Fang's mouth.

Eraser-Fang snarled viciously and dropped on to all fours and tensed; ready to pounce on her and rip her throat out. Max got into her fighting stance, ready to fight to the end, even if she only had one useful arm

Eraser-Fang barreled toward Max, she knocked him aside with a quick snap kick to his neck. Eraser-Fang retched.

Max kicked upward at the perfect time, hitting Fang directly under the chin. He stood up in a momentary daze on his two hind paws. Max took that as an opportunity to kick him with both feet in the chest.

That knocked the breath away from Eraser-Fang, and as he gasped for air, Max kicked him in the head. Eraser-Fang's head snapped towards the side and he snarled as he swiped his claws at her. The razor sharp claws only grazed her skin and ripped holes in her shirt.

Eraser-Fang punched, aiming for Max's face, but while she ducked, he swept his leg and knocked her to the grassy ground. Before Max could get back on her feet, Fang was on top of her. His eyes were so close, that she could see the golden specks in them that she'd missed so much these last few months.

Fang must've had a flashback too, because his snarl soon disappeared. He looked into Max's eyes, as if staring at someone that he had seen somewhere, but couldn't quite remember where.

Max made one of her snap-second decisions. Max leaned forward and kissed Fang on his fuzzy muzzle. Fang's dark black eyes widened in recognition. His eyes closed as he instantly morphed back into the normal, Avian-human Fang. He brushed his lips against hers.

Fang kissed the little bruises on Max's face. Max ensnared her fingers in his shaggy, unkempt black hair.

Fang glanced at Max's broken and bloody arm and his eyes widened and he pulled his head back in shame. He still tasted the bitter metallic taste of her blood in his mouth. His face was probably covered in blood; _her_ blood. He'd hurt her.

Max steered his head closer.

"Hey," Max said. "Don't worry about it." She pulls Fang closer until she closes the distance between them. Their kisses soon become more fiery and passionate. Max tried something that she saw on a late night/very early morning show on TV when she couldn't sleep.

Max grinded her hips against Fang's and he growled in a way that made Max believe that he was going to morph again, but that wasn't the case at all. Fang looked into her eyes, with a new, heated and hungry look in his eyes that made her feel like her soul was lit on fire. Fang felt like a million volts of electricity were coursing through every cell in his body, but it was insanely _good_.

They kissed, more rough and less playful.

"I will probably get in trouble for breaking this up, but there will be plenty of time for that later. Dad and I have missed you so much." said a voice that was terrifyingly familiar. Slowly, Max turned her head to look at the speaker.

A pair of glowing eyes were narrowed in a hateful, mocking way. They were red and slit-pupiled. Then, two glowing yellow pairs of eyes came up on both sides of the red pair.

Fang knew what the glowing eyes meant. On instinct, he got off of Max and stood in front of her, a flesh and blood barrier between Max and the mysterious intruders.

The three pairs of eyes came closer and closer until you could see who owned them. Two extremely large, good-looking, and blood thirsty guys stood, their eyes the only thing ruining the perfect image. In the center, the one who'd spoken was Ari. He was alive.

"Who is your father?" Max snarled viciously from behind Fang. Max didn't know who looked more surprised, Ari and his cronies or Fang. None of them knew that she could now speak English.

Ari's stunned expression changed into its usual lofty sneer.

"Well, look who's gotten a few brain cells." Ari said aggressively. Fang didn't understand what was being said, and was still pretty shocked that Max could speak the human language now, but understood Ari's hostile tone perfectly. Fang growled at Ari.

Ari laughed, and his goons followed his example seconds after.

"You may be not as stupid as you were, but you might just have to share some of those brain cells with dog boy here. The idoit thinks that he's a dog when he's a freaking bird." Ari laughed maliciously. Fang tried to morph so that he could rip these losers apart, but he just couldn't. Something, the thing that had always forced him to morph, was keeping him from changing.

Ari and his goons laughed some more, as if sharing some kind of private joke.

"What's wrong, dog boy? Why can't you show us your claws? Are you too stupid to morph? Even those other slobbering idiots in cages know how to morph." Ari taunted.

"Shut up." Max said in a dangerous tone. "You'd better shut your mouth before I shut it for you. Anyways, aren't you supposed to be dead? I thought that I'd made sure of that. I'll have to fix that." Max snapped.

Ari looked like he'd been smacked between the eyes.

"Watch it, princess, or little Fang won't have anything left to knock up, and you don't want to deprive your little boyfriend of that." Ari said mockingly.

"The only thing that's going to get knocked is your teeth when I knock them out of your pathetic face." Max growled. She was standing, right next to Fang, who was still internally fighting to morph into an Eraser.

"Good luck with that. You won't stand a chance against us." Ari said smugly. His buddies bobbed their heads in agreement.

"What's a bunch of stupid flimsy humans going to do against two highly trained, kick butt mutants?" Max asked. She loosened up, ready for an easy, quick fight. This time, she would kill Ari the right way.

"Humans? My dear Max, who said anything about humans?" Ari grinned devilishly. Max watched in horror as Ari and his two sidekicks changed into brown, grinning Erasers.

"This time, you're going to be the one who's weak. You're going to be the one who gets beaten. I can't kill you, sadly, my father wants you alive." Ari said in a gravelly voice. Max stared at him in horror. Not only was Ari alive, but he was an Eraser. And he could speak while morphed. No Eraser had done that since the School.

Max knew that this wasn't going to end well. The only Eraser that she'd ever fought was Fang, and that didn't turn out so well.

Ari snickered.

"Here, since I'm so kind, I'll give your boyfriend a little helping hand." Ari growled. Ari reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a slim, silver remote. He hit a large blue button at the top and Fang shuddered. In an instant, a shaggy black Eraser stood where Fang was a second before. His dark black eyes avoided Max's.

"Actually, I changed my mind." Ari grinned. He clicked the blue button again with the tip of a claw. Fang's muscles tightened and his face contorted with pain as he instantly morphed back into an Avian-human. Fang's bones ached from morphing so much. His muscles felt like burning lead from beneath his skin and his head pounded.

"Wolf up!" Ari snickered as he pushed the blue button again. Fang stared wildly at Ari and the remote as his hands grew claws. He grimaced and his fur receded until it was tanned, sweat coated skin. Fang panted and his heart was beating wildly and erratic. He was an Eraser once more.

"Stop it! You're hurting him, stop it!" Max shouted. She glared at Ari with contempt. The look that Fang was giving Ari was pure hate. Fang's eyes locked on to the slim silver remote that controlled his life.

"Neat little bugger. Fang here is the first remote controlled Eraser. Not only does it completely control his morphing, but it controls his actions too. There's pretty much a button for everything. My personal favorite is the 'kill' button. The 'attack' button was a nice touch as well. Heck, there's even a 'sleep' button." Ari said in his best salesperson voice, which was marred by the rough tone that it had taken when he morphed.

"Leave him out of this." Max barked.

"You're not the one to give orders here. There's a punishment button here too. I can't use the death button on him, since dad needs him alive, but I can torture him all I want. That depends on your cooperation." Ari said. "I'll demonstrate."

Ari pushed a small black button on the lower left corner of the remote. Fang's legs wobbled and gave away. He landed in a heap on the ground and convulsed. It was like he was having a seizure. Max practically tripped while running over to Fang's side.

"Fang?" Max chirped in Avian. He didn't reply. She only saw the whites of his eyes and he shook on the ground as if he were being shocked with invisible jumper cables.

"Say the word, Maxie. He's a tough one, but even he won't last very long… without being permanently damaged." Ari taunted as he waved the remote.

Max wanted so badly to snap his stupid neck, but he was an Eraser now and had two equally strong guards protecting him.

Max watched helplessly as Fang, the only thing worth living for in her life, was twitching on the grass; every nerve in his body on fire with some invisible pain.

He was too tough for his own good, he never made a noise of pain, but maybe it was because he couldn't have if he wanted too.

"Stop! Just stop it! Fine! I'll go! I want to meet this 'dad' of yours. What sort of twisted, sadistic cretin is he, the Devil? The Devil's spawn?" Max growled. Ari looked at Fang's jerking form on the ground for a painfully long time before pressing the button again. Fang stopped moving.

His chest was heaving as he silently gasped for air. She gently wiped sweat off of his brow. His eyes were closed. Warily, he opened them and looked at her face. She looked flawless in the moonlight that cascaded through the clear ceiling. Her eyes were worried, and she looked visibly relieved when he looked her in the eyes.

"He's alive, alright! Come on, princess. Hurry up, or we'll watch Fang here have another spaz-fest." Ari snarled. Max wanted to say a hundred things to him, and none of them 'G' rated, but she didn't want to make Ari do anything hasty. He was the one with Fang's life in his hands; literally.

Max hurriedly walked over to the Erasers, but first attempted to help Fang to his feet. Fang declined, and got to his feet on his own.

Now his muscles and bones ached a hundred times more. He just wanted to sleep for a hundred years, with Max safely curled up next to him.

"Hurry!" snapped Ari. He grabbed a fistful of Max's brown and blond hair. Max twisted her face into a pained expression.

Fang was dead tired and in an immeasurable amount of pain, but managed to snarl at Ari and run at him. Ari sighed impatiently and clicked a green button on the middle of the slim silver remote. Fang stopped as if he'd just ran into an invisible wall. He looked at Ari murderously.

"Easy, oddball. She's all yours; she just has an appointment with the man in charge. Then you can have her." Ari said smugly. Ari hit another button and Fang's eyes were so dark and scary, that Max couldn't even look at him. Fang followed Ari and the goons as they walked out of the Aviatory, out of the Examination room, and down the hall.

Fang had no choice, he was being forced to obey by that remote somehow.

Max and Fang were shoved into a room.

"Sleep tight, Maxie. I would wish your boyfriend good luck, but he's too stupid to understand." Ari cackled as the iron door slammed shut and immediately locked, leaving the room pitch-black and silent.

However, a bird-kid's vision was the same in the light as it was in the dark, so Max and Fang could see normally.

Max saw Fang slump to the floor, exhausted and just wanted to escape the maddening, scalding ache of his body.

Max walked over next to him and curled up next to him.

"I'm glad that you're not dead." Max said softly in Avian, a poor attempt at a dry joke. Fang didn't even look over.

"I don't hate you, if that's what you think. You can't help what you are. You weren't in control of what you were doing, and I don't blame you for anything that you did while you were an Eraser. Just because you're a little bit harrier won't change what I feel about you." Max said in Avian. Fang looked at her, his eyes still remorseful. He took off his shirt and set her arm straight with it without a word.

Max was frustrated. She never knew the limits of the Avian language until she had learned English. She wished that 'love' was a word in Avian. At least, in the way that she meant it. She'd have to tell him that with the way that she acted, since words weren't sufficient.

She brushed a kiss on his lips.

"Get some sleep." She said. "I will too." Max laid her head on his bare chest, instantly comforted by the sound of his heartbeat and his rhythmic breathing.

Fang ran his fingers through her silky smooth brown hair; the blond streaks were barely visible, even with his enhanced night vision. He had missed her too, the whole time that he was here. Months and months, he was alone in the Aviatory, longing for a glimpse of her familiar form, the sound of her voice, the electricity he felt when they touched. Now, he had it all back.

Even though they were trapped back in the amusement park, they were together, and he wouldn't lose her again. Slowly, his eyes drifted shut and the two Avian-humans were asleep, trapped in something worse than they ever imagined, but they were together again. Everything seemed easier to face when they had the other's back.

**Okay, don't kill me. I have a ton of Chemistry homework, so blame the return of school, not me for the long wait on the update. I really appreciate all the reviews that I got in the last chapter! They were fantastic! **


	20. Without a Choice

**Hey! School still sucks, and I'm more loaded with homework than ever. However, the reviews were so beautiful and wonderful, that I shoved all homework aside to type this! I hope that you like it; it's going to be exciting! **

**Disclaimer: I really don't feel like doing one of these right now…**

**Chapter 20: Without a Choice**

The next morning, Max and Fang were awakened by the sound of the door opening and a sliver of bright fluorescent light shining in through the doorway. There was a figure standing in the doorway.

"Well, if it isn't my little Max. Look who's returned. You don't know how much trouble you've caused." Jeb said in a mock -scornful tone, like the way someone would speak to a small child.

"Sorry, I'm just visiting; and if you think that I've caused trouble already? Just you wait. I've got a lot planned." Max said menacingly. Jeb didn't look surprised in the least. Ari had told him before hand of Max's newfound ability to speak English. In fact, Jeb looked slightly bemused.

"Quite fascinating, but I'm afraid that your ability to speak will be limited. You see, I can't have you telling people the park's secrets. I'm afraid that I might be put out of business. Besides, if people realize that you are less-animal than they'd originally realized, they might have second thoughts about keeping mutants in cages. I can't have social services taking away my prized specimens." Jeb said in a cool, smooth voice.

"And you going out of business would be such a tragedy." Max said, her voice oozing sarcasm.

"I'm glad that you understand the importance of the situation." Jeb said, lighting a cigar and filling room with a thick, smoky odor that made Max crinkle her nose up in distaste.

Fang was standing behind Max, impassive on the outside, but extremely perplexed because he had no idea what was being said. He was still amazed that Max had learned how to speak to humans.

"Unfortunately, the only way to keep you silent is to cut out your tongue, but, maybe you will behave yourself." Jeb said knowingly, taking a long draft from his horrid cigar.

"Yeah, right. Ari will get a girlfriend before I do _anything_ that you say. How did you turn him into an Eraser, anyways?" Max said, mildly interested. Jeb looked less patient and his eyes turned a few degrees colder.

"You _will_ behave, or I will take… rather unpleasant measures on your part. Let's just say that it makes losing your tongue look like a stubbed toe in comparison." Jeb said with dark humor.

"What exactly do you want me to do? Fly through a few flaming hoops for you? Yeah, right. As soon as I find a way out, and I will, I'm busting out of here and telling every newspaper and reporter from here to China. You might want to try learning to be poor; it's a humbling experience." Max said venomously.

"Once again, my dear Maximum, You don't see the whole picture. How are you supposed to tell anyone if you can't speak? Since you are unable to control your tongue, I'm afraid that you lose the privilege of being within hearing of anyone who cares. You obviously misunderstand me, I'm not asking you to fly through hoops; at least, not anymore." Jeb smirked around the thick cigar in his mouth.

"I think that all that cigar smoke has finally gotten to your brain, because you aren't making any sense. Well, besides the fact that you have some serious issues and want to cut out my tongue. Good luck with that." Max snapped.

"Fine, I'll make it perfectly clear. You are never going to get out of here, and no one will ever know any of the park's well kept secrets. Do you know why? You can never escape the School. It has always been here." Jeb said smugly.

"Wrong again, Mr. Moneybag. The School was closed, a very long time ago. You bought all of the mutants from the government when it closed, I wouldn't have been through all the crap that I've been through if you didn't buy me, you _idiot_!" Max said, and then shouted the last part.

Jeb sighed, another puff of foul smelling smoke emitting into the air.

"I hope that your children are more behaved than you are." Jeb said. "Without you to ruin them, I think that they might be great entertainers."

"You can just stop right there, psychopath. I don't have any kids, and if I ever do, you aren't going to even freaking touch them." Max hissed. She tensed her body, clenching her fists. Fang moved closer to her, sensing her anger and tension and glared coldly at Jeb. Whatever Jeb had said, it had upset Max, Fang knew that much; even if he didn't understand a word that they said.

Jeb smiled arrogantly.

"You think that you actually have a choice. How… amusing." Jeb said smoothly. "In fact, some of my… staff have created a new drug that will solve all the little kinks in the works. I think that you have seen some of my staff before, in fact. They are the ones that created you in the first place. The School lives Maximum; including the scientists who worked there. I give them supplies, resources, cover from the… less supportive. The School is here, in this very park. It was almost like you never left, although I'm sure that you prefer the Aviatory over a dog crate." Jeb said.

Max looked at Jeb blankly.

"You're telling me that the School… is here. Undercover. In the park. And it's been here this whole freaking time? And you're supporting them. Um… why?" Max managed amidst her shock. She forgot to use her hostile tone.

"You should be able to figure that much out. They make new mutants, and make sure that the old ones are taken care of properly. I can't have all of my experiments dying. Really, that's where poor Dylan came from. He was overdosed with hormones to make him intent on breeding. Fang and Ari wouldn't be alive if they weren't here. The scientists from the School know more about the mutants than anyone. They were able to bring Fang and Ari back to life. I gave them permission to splice Ari's DNA to make him an Eraser. They have a new formula that would make Ari better than any other Eraser, so I let them test it on Ari. He was all too happy when he realized what he'd become. The Erasers were his favorite mutant in the park." Jeb said, tossing his cigar to the cold marble floor and stamping on it with one foot until the embers died.

"That figures." Max mumbled. "He was born to be one of those slobbering monsters."

"As for Fang here," Jeb said brusquely. Jeb revealed the horrible slim remote that controlled Fang's life. He lazily looked at the various buttons. "Ah, here it is." Jeb muttered as he smashed a button.

Max felt Fang stiffen beside her and he shot away from her, but not because of the remote. In mere seconds, Fang was a pure black Eraser. He looked at Max with his black irises looking the saddest that she'd ever seen him. He didn't trust himself around her. He didn't want to hurt her any more than he already had.

"Stop it! Leave him alone! Stop!" Max barked. Her eyes filled with loathing as she glared at Jeb. Fang heard Max's angry tone and snarled at Jeb. Fang's terrifying growling made the hair stand up on the back of Max's neck.

"As I was saying, I had no need for Ari to be remote controlled, so I let them make Fang into the first remote-controlled Eraser. Fascinating, really. Unfortunately, there is no 'breed' button on the remote, otherwise that would solve the problem quite easily. Like I said before though, the scientists invented this genius new drug. It contains the same hormone that made Dylan obsessed about mating. Since you refuse to cooperate, the drug will be given to you immediately. It will give you no choice but to mate." Jeb said with morbid humor.

Max's brown eyes widened. This was it. Max wanted to believe that he was lying, but she had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach that he wasn't. That evil cretin was going to get his way. She would get pregnant, then the whitecoats would take her baby and do all sorts of horrible things to it and she'd never see it again. Max couldn't say anything after that. The School was there, she was in the School, and she was never going to get out.

She mentally smacked herself. Of course she was going to get out. She was Maximum Ride, after all. She was going to bust out with Fang, and they would be free and never have to worry about the park or the School ever again.

"It's unfortunate that your mate injured you. I'll send in someone to bandage it properly before your… grand finale." Jeb chuckled. He clicked the remote and Fang morphed back into a human in an instant. Fang's muscles shone with sweat and trembled in exhaustion. Morphing always was extremely painful for him.

Jeb left the room and the door instantly slammed shut behind him, clicking shut. There was a small buzzing noise as the electric seal turned on. Now if anyone was to try to touch the door from the inside, they would be electrocuted.

Max walked over to Fang. She was going to see if he was okay before she tried to formulate a plan of escape.

Fang leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor. He put his head in between his knees, partially out of the nausea that he was battling and partially to hide his pained expression from Max.

Max sank to the floor next to him.

"I know that you hate this. That you hate what you are. But I don't. I know who you are, and everything that we've been through." Max said in Avian. " I know that I will never hate you, no matter what you are, because you are still _you_. And if being you means that you have fur and fangs, then…" Max cracked up in the middle of the sentence. Fang didn't move. Max tried to smother her laughter, but laughed even harder.

He picked his head up and looked at her.

"I'm…I shouldn't be… fangs…." Max managed as she laughed again.

"You have fangs, and your name is Fang." Max managed. Fang looked at Max emotionlessly.

"It's not that funny." He said, letting his head drop back down, his shaggy, unkempt black hair concealing most of his face. "What did he say to you?" Fang finished, still not looking Max in the eye.

Max sighed and shifted uncomfortably.

Max told Fang a brief summary of her discussion with Jeb. When Fang stared at her blankly when it came to the subject of breeding, Max felt like she was going to be sick. Breeding was the last subject that she wanted to talk about; especially with Fang.

Max gave him the most vague, quick explanation of the subject that she could give. She swore that Fang reddened a little bit, but Fang _never_ got embarrassed, so she blamed it on the poor lighting.

"After, well, that, the whitecoats will take our baby and do all sorts of horrible things to it and we'll never see it again." Max said, her voice emphasizing how horrible that would be. Fang didn't need verbal cues though. It was strange, but he felt fiercely protective of any kids that he would have. Which made it all the stranger, since it never occurred to him that he and Max could have kids, considering that it was a very new concept to him. Heck, he didn't even know what being a dad meant. He'd never had any sort of parental figure whatsoever. Dr. Martinez loosely classified as a mother to him, since he'd only known her for a brief time.

Just the thought of the whitecoats getting their hands on his children made his blood boil. He didn't want to have kids now anyways. He didn't even know anything about the outside world except what little bits that he'd learned from his life at the fighting arena.

All of this new, strange and very real information was extremely overwhelming.

"There's got to be a way out. There has to be. I won't let this happen." Fang said. Max looked at him, and then leaned her head tiredly against his shoulder. His heart-rate spiked up at her touch. He'd missed her. He'd missed their moments together like this.

Once again, the door glided open on greased hinges and a bright light pierced the dank darkness of their room.

Fang's body tensed, ready to fight to the death; He'd rather die before he gave into the whitecoats' sick, twisted plans. Max's heart beat rapidly; she too prepared herself for the fight for freedom.

What they didn't expect was to see a stunned Dr. Martinez stumble into the room with her medical bag in tote.

"No funny business, this room has cameras. One wrong move and you'll be very sorry." growled Ari's voice from the hallway. Max bared her teeth at the mere thought of the wolf-monster. He was the one who deserved to be controlled by a remote, not Fang.

"Max?" Dr. Martinez said in a disbelieving tone. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were at home!"

Max slumped her shoulders. So the Flock hadn't noticed her absence, at least they hadn't when Dr. Martinez left for work that morning. They'd probably already found the note by now.

"I left a note." Max said simply. Dr. Martinez squinted her eyes, she was a human and could not see well in the darkness.

Dr. Martinez took a walkie-talkie that was clipped to her belt. "Give me some light in room 304." She said clearly into the walkie-talkie. There was a static-muffled reply and a moment later, the room brightened. Dr. Martinez clipped the walkie-talkie back to her belt. Then she saw Fang.

"Oh my…" Dr. Martinez said softly. "It can't be… you were…"

"It was a big surprise for me too." Max remarked. Dr. Martinez just stared unbelievingly at Fang. He was alive. This whole time. She could have helped him, but he was stuck here in this cesspool of evil for months, when she could have broken him out. She felt terrible. How did Jeb manage to keep something like this away from her? Well, he was Jeb. His mind was so diluted and twisted, that he could distort the truth and no one would ever know otherwise.

"Why… I just have so many questions… They sent me in here because you were hurt. What happened? Where are you injured?" Dr. Martinez said, tearing her from Fang's dark form.

"Oh, I.. uh, got into a little fight. It's my arm. It's not that bad though." Max said quickly. Dr. Martinez walked over to Max quickly. She unwrapped Fang's black shirt from around Max's arm, realizing that the black material had soaked up and hidden all the blood that was steadily pumping from the large puncture wounds in her arm. Although they were not as bad as they were the night before, they were still serious wounds and were at a risk of infection.

"First off, your arm is broken, but if feels like a clean break." Dr. Martinez said, studying the puncture wounds in Max's arm where Fang had bit her when he was morphed. Dr. Martinez felt Fang starring at her; it was like his obsidian irises were observing her every move, waiting for her to make any aggressive move.

"These almost look like… canine bite marks." Dr. Martinez said it a stunned tone. They don't look like domestic dog bites, the muzzle is too long and the teeth were much too sharp it's almost like a wolf bit…" Dr. Martinez's face paled. "Did an Eraser bite you? Was it Ari?" Dr. Martinez was furious. How could they let one of those mindless monsters anywhere near Max?

"It wasn't Ari." Max said softly.

"Then did they let other Erasers out? Tell me what happened." Dr. Martinez said as she pulled the wound disinfectant out of her bag.

Max was very reluctant to reveal Fang's secret to her. It wasn't her secret to tell.

Max spoke in rapid fire Avian to Fang.

"Can I tell her what the whitecoats did to you? You can trust her. I trust her." Max said. Fang looked at her. He was quiet for a few seconds.

"Only if you trust her." Fang replied. He trusted Max's judgment. He really didn't want people to know about the monster that he could now change into, and worst of all, he couldn't control it. However, Max wouldn't tell Dr. Martinez if there wasn't good reason.

"The whitecoats were experimenting on Fang while… while I thought that he was dead. They can control him now, and he has no choice. He turns into an Eraser. They made him try to kill me." Max said. Dr. Martinez froze; the bottle of peroxide still in her hand. She slowly shifted her gaze over to Fang.

Fang's eyes looked sorrowful, the first emotion that she'd ever truly seen on him.

"They did not. That's not possible." Dr. Martinez said flatly.

"He is; they control him with a little remote. Like…" Max remembered that Ari had said that the room was bugged with cameras. Small ones, since she couldn't see any. "Like a remote control car." Max finished. She was going to say like Gazzy's remote control car, but she didn't want to reveal the fact that other bird-kids existed besides herself and Fang. The whitecoats would wonder who Gazzy was, and why both Dr. Martinez and Max know who 'Gazzy' was.

"But they can't just, everyone knows that his genes will unravel if they were infused with lupine DNA! He is too old to have DNA grafts!" Dr. Martinez protested as she poured the peroxide on Max's arm. She barely winced at the tingling, stinging sensation. Dr. Martinez then covered the wound with anesthetic and set her broken arm straight. Max tightly gripped on to Fang's hand while Dr. Martinez set her broken arm, causing Fang's knuckles to turn an unnatural pale color.

"I don't know how, he just is! There has to be a way to change him back!" Max said determinedly. She was hiding the fact that she was terrified at the thought of losing him again. She didn't understand Dr. Martinez's scientific speak, but the whole 'unraveling genes' part didn't sound very pleasant for Fang.

Dr. Martinez bit the inside of her cheek. Max had enough to worry about. She had no idea what Jeb was planning for them. He was keeping her out of the loop on purpose, because he still didn't trust her. Dr. Martinez knew that it couldn't be good and that there was only one thing that she could do; she was going to call the Flock on her cell phone, have them fly over to the park, and she would meet them at the employees' entrance. Dr. Martinez would find some way to smuggle them in. She already had a plan forming.

She hoped that the Flock would get here soon, because whatever Jeb had in store would not be put on hold, Jeb was very impatient. She would call them as soon as she left this room.

"I just don't understand… any of this." Dr. Martinez murmured. She cleared her throat. Fang was still eyeing her every movement, and it put her on edge. "Is Fang alright? I mean, is he hurt at all?"

Max twittered something to Fang in Avian. He replied with a single chirp.

"No. If you can un-Eraserfy him though, that would be good." Max answered.

"There's nothing that I can do about that right now." Dr. Martinez replied, hoping that Max would pick up the hidden meaning. She meant that help was on the way, and when Max and Fang were free, then Dr. Martinez could see what she could do about Fang. Dr. Martinez had little hope for curing Fang though; she was a veterinarian, not a geneticist.

"They won't let me stay for long." Dr. Martinez said as she placed all of her medical supplies back into her bag. To Dr. Martinez's surprise, Max hugged Dr. Martinez, something that she hadn't done since Fang supposedly died.

After a quick embrace, Max awkwardly stepped away and over to Fang, who was watching them with an undecipherable glint in his eyes.

"Take care of each other." Dr. Martinez said softly as she walked over to the door. The door opened before her. Max and Fang saw Dr. Martinez's worried brown eyes staring at them for a moment before the door slammed shut with a metallic clang. The room plunged into its previous darkness.

-XOXO-

Dr. Martinez walked down the polished white hallway, past scientists in long white lab coats who peered at her suspiciously over their mysterious clipboards. Dr. Martinez shoved the women's bathroom door open. She made sure that all the stalls were empty before opening her cell phone and furiously punching in the numbers to the house phone.

After four rings, Iggy answered the phone. She could hear Nudge chattering in the background and Gazzy making dump-truck noises.

"Hello?" Iggy answered.

"Iggy, did you happen to notice that Max was gone?" Dr. Martinez said in a quiet, calm voice in case there were any eavesdroppers in the bathroom.

"Max is gone? Gone where? I just thought that she went on a morning flight!" Iggy sounded somewhat panicked, and he almost never lost his composure; even when he was in the most dire crises. "Wait, Magnolia! What do you have in your mouth?" Iggy snapped into the background.

Ella's dog Magnolia had an annoying habit of eating thing that she shouldn't, such as shoes, homework, and permission slips.

There was a fumbling sound on Iggy's end of the line. There was a sound of triumph as Iggy apparently freed whatever was in Magnolia's mouth. How Iggy even knew that Magnolia had something in her mouth, D. Martinez had no idea.

"Nudge! Come here! What is this?" Iggy called into the background. Nudge momentarily paused her mindless prattling and came over to Iggy.

Nudge read the first few lines aloud and looked aghast.

"What is… oh, no. No no no no…" Iggy said under his breath. It was the note that Max had left behind for the Flock to read. Instead, Magnolia had gotten it. "Oh, if she's dead, I'm going to kill her."

"Iggy, I'm at work. She's alright. She's fine. I know where she is, but I'm going to need you guys to come here and meet me at the back parking lot. I'll sneak you in. You have to hurry, there isn't much time." Dr. Martinez said as quickly as she could into the phone. There was so much that she wanted to say, but it was going to have to wait.

"Right, see you in a few!" Iggy said shortly. Before anything else could be said Iggy started calling orders to the Flock and hung up the phone.

The cavalry was coming. Dr. Martinez hoped that they wouldn't be too late. Dr. Martinez put her cell phone back into her pocket and exited the bathroom. However, waiting for her in the hallway was a nerdy looking scientist with her twiggy blond hair pulled back in a brittle ponytail. The scientist's eyes were magnified to a few times their normal size by thick glasses.

"And who do you think _you_ are?" The scientist-lady said in a haughty tone.

"I'm Dr. Valencia Martinez. I was called to attend Maximum Ride's injuries." Dr. Martinez said with an equal amount of authority. This nerdy chick with a clipboard was not intimidating in the least.

"You no longer have authorization to be here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The whitecoat said in a snobby tone, flipping her blond ponytail self-importantly.

"What do you mean 'no authorization'? I'm Maximum Ride's…" Dr. Martinez protested hotly.

"Security!" The blond whitecoat called shrilly. In a moment, two big thugs came and 'escorted' Dr. Martinez out of that wing and to the Eraser building.

Dr. Martinez grumbled intelligible words at Jeb, the guards, and that annoying blond whitecoat. Iggy had better hurry, or she was going to stage a revolution right there and then. That nerdy blond girl would be the first to go.

-XOXO-

The only thing that it took was for Ari to tauntingly wave Fang's remote to make Max give in. Ari's twitchy finger hovered over the button that would make Fang writhe in pain.

Max wanted nothing more than to tear Ari's throat out with her bare hands, but she couldn't stand to see Fang like that again; jolting in pain and suffering, tortured by an unseen force.

"See, Maxie? If you play by the rules, no one gets hurt… much." Sneered Ari as he pushed the 'punishment' button on Fang's remote out of sight. The two Erasers gripping Max's arms gave her matching unholy grins as they watched Fang violently twitch, as if being electrocuted.

"I gave in now STOP IT!" thundered Max. Ari sighed and made a point of taking his time to put Fang back to normal.

Fang was panting heavily, and two more huge Erasers grabbed his arms. Really, the Eraser guards were redundant. Max or Fang wouldn't do a single thing if they were loose in the room, because Ari had them both backed into corners.

Max was helpless, which she despised almost as much as she despised the whitecoats, Jeb, and Ari. If she made any sudden moves, Ari was sure to make Fang pay dearly for it. Max couldn't lose him again; she wouldn't.

Fang hated the fact that he was in the center of this mess. It was his fault that Max couldn't attack, it was his fault that they were trapped, and Ari was using his power over Fang as leverage against Max. Fang tried desperately to fight the remote's orders but he just… couldn't. HE couldn't explain it, but he had no choice but to obey whatever the remote forced him to do. Besides, he didn't want to morph and be forced to hurt or kill Max. He still loathed himself for the last time that he hurt Max, the night before in the Aviatory, when he knew what he was doing, but could do nothing to stop it. What really scared him was the fact that he'd hurt Max and he'd _liked_ it. He got a rare thrill out of causing someone else pain for a change, the way that her bone snapped in his mouth and the taste of her blood was sweet on his tongue. The mere memory was enough to hope that this would all end soon. He hated sharing a body with a monster and he didn't care if the process of getting rid of the Eraser part of him would kill him.

"Today, I'll be giving you your shots." Ari growled, his eyes glowing a demonic red color. He pulled out a long syringe filled with an amber liquid. Max wanted to struggle. This would be the end. This was the beginning of the end.

The Eraser holding Max's right arm yanked her arm out, making the soft inside of her arm facing upward. The Erasers watched with satanic satisfaction as Ari jammed the needle into her vein in the crook of her arm and emptied the syringe.

Max felt dizzy, as if she'd done a dozen aerial loop-de-loops in the air without stopping. Max stumbled and fell to her knees. Her vision blurred and her thoughts clouded over into simpler, more foreign thoughts.

Ari grinned.

"It's working. Hurry up with her boyfriend." Ari barked at the other whitecoat. A whitecoat, with closely shaved hair and horn-rimmed glasses , was injecting the same liquid into Fang's veins.

The Erasers quickly let go of Fang and hurried out of the room, the whitecoat close behind. Ari grinned wolfishly through a small crack in the door before it slammed shut.

"You'd better start picking out baby names, Maxie." Ari crooned through the door, then slammed it shut.

Fang was on his knees as well, the liquid that was injected into his veins were having the same effect on him.

Fang was fighting to keep his thoughts. It was like someone else was thinking for him by replacing his thoughts with their own.

Fang looked dazedly at Max. Max was looking around, her brown eyes sort of glazed over. All that Fang could think about was running his hands through her long beautiful sun streaked hair and feeling every inch of her.

Max looked at Fang and wanted desperately to close any space between them, and couldn't find a single reason why she shouldn't.

In the blink of an eye, Max was on top of Fang, and the distance between them was gone. There were almost no thoughts in their heads. The drug had made them forget everything else.

They tore at each other's clothes and then, they were one.

**I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I could never get it quite the way that I wanted to. This was close to the way I wanted it, though I'd never get it perfect. Please review. **


	21. BirdKid Brawl

**I know, it's been… four weeks since I last updated. But, this is the first time that I haven't had a ton of homework, so please don't be too mad. Trust me, I've wanted to write for a really long time, but haven't had the time or the inspiration to do so. So, without further ado, the newest and most shocking chapter yet!**

**Disclaimer- Yeah, yeah, you know the drill. I don't own Max Ride, blah, blah, blah. **

**Chapter Twenty-One: Bird-Kid Brawl**

About forty-five minutes later, the Flock arrived in the back parking lot. They were not spotted by any sort of security or personnel. Well, except for Dr. Martinez, who was waiting for them the windowless, rear wall.

One by one, the Flock members swiftly dropped from the sky and landed without breaking stride. They were so magnificent, that it took quite a lot of willpower on Dr. Martinez's part to avoid applauding their graceful and stealthy landing.

Out of sheer habit, Iggy had Nudge quickly survey the parking lot for any security cameras or patrols, and she saw none. There was a single guard station a ways up the road leading to the parking lot, but he never left the guard station and the Flock made sure to stay out of the guard's line of view while flying.

"Where is she?" Iggy asked immediately. The Flock watched Dr. Martinez with grave expressions. Angel, of course, was reading Dr. Martinez's mind, so she pretty much already knew the situation. However, Angel didn't really understand most of Dr. Martinez's more advanced, scientific thoughts or the whole 'breeding' concept, but she did know that things would turn out very, very badly if Max wasn't rescued within the hour.

Angel had also discovered a shocking new revelation, but didn't want to spoil the surprise for the rest of the Flock. Angel decided that it would be better if the Flock would go in to bust Max out and discover Fang. It would be a good surprise for a change. Usually, a 'surprise' in the Flock meant something had gone terribly amiss. This time, it would be a great surprise. Now, Max wouldn't be sad and they would be a Flock of six.

Angel loved the idea.

"I'll get you inside, but you'll have to go in through a vent. I don't know how to navigate the vent system, or how you'll get out of the vent and into Max's room, but I do know that she is in the Eastern wing of the Aviatory building. There is also a vent entrance in Max's room." Dr. Martinez said with precision and accuracy.

"We'll figure out those details later, but I have a few ideas. How will we get in?" Iggy asked as he winked at Angel.

_Do you think that you can find Max's thoughts? We could follow them through the vent shafts._ Iggy suggested mentally, already knowing that Angel was eavesdropping on his thoughts.

_Yeah, I can do that. And Nudge can use her magnetic skill to open the vent door from the inside. _Angel said. Iggy smiled at her momentarily; then his expression became serious again.

"I've already thought of that." Dr. Martinez said a wry smile as she brought several, rather large, cloth bags from the trunk of her car, which was parked right next to them.

"Great. We'll be headed home, with Max in a few." Iggy said, cracking his knuckles, ready to get the rescue operation going. Gazzy grinned and mimicked Iggy by cracking his knuckles as well. Nudge bounced on her heels, excited and Angel grinned. The Flock would be back together again. Max was like a mom to her, a real one. Iggy was great at taking care of them, but it wasn't the same as having Max there.

Since Fang was alive, Max would be happy and she'd stay with the Flock. Sure, Iggy would be a little disappointed at first, since Max would be with Fang, but he would get over it.

As Dr. Martinez explained the plan, the Flock leaned in closer, loving the scheme. It was a great plan, but escaping would be kind of risky. Everyone just prayed that it would turn out better than last time.

-XOXO-

Dr. Martinez hauled the last two cloth sacks down the hallway. This time, there were unidentified objects inside the backs.

"Ow! My head just hit a wall!" whined one of the sacks.

"Shh!" Dr. Martinez hissed at the sack. "There's a guard around the corner."

The sacks immediately stopped fidgeting and silenced.

Dr. Martinez turned the corner, her sneakers barely making a sound on the waxed marble floors.

There were two muffled grunts as the brown cloth sacks bumped into another.

Standing in front of the wide, double doors that led to the Eastern wing of the Aviatory stood a burly guard sporting the Freak Fest uniform of a dark blue embroidered polo with jeans and tennis shoes. He had a pistol strapped to his belt and made no effort to hide it.

"Name, and destination. I'm gonna need to see what you have in the bags." Grunted the beefy guard.

"I am Dr. Valencia Martinez and, like I said ten minutes ago, I'm going to the human-wolf hybrid building. These are a few more bags of meat I'm hauling to feed the mutants with. Those monsters sure eat a lot." Dr. Martinez sighed. "You can check the meat if you want to, but I don't recommend it. It smells awful. It nearly made me sick just dragging these things around."

The guard nodded and waved her though, obviously taking Dr. Martinez's word for it.

Just as Dr. Martinez was about to pass through the door, the guard abruptly stepped in her path; blocking the doorway.

_Oh, no. He's found us out! If I get caught…_ Dr. Martinez didn't even get to finish her frantic thought.

"Wait a second," The burley guy growled. He didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box, but he was still a huge hulking thing and it would be impossible to get past him. "If you're going to the Human-Wolf building, why do you need to go into the Human-Bird building?"

_Wow, great observation, Sherlock. _ Dr. Martinez thought darkly. One of the sacks smothered a giggle.

The guard looked at the bag quizzically.

"It's really fresh meat. It doesn't make it smell any better though." Dr. Martinez said impatiently, drawing the guards attention away from the sack and back to her.

"It's a short-cut to the Human-Lupine building. Really, I don't want to carry these bags longer that I have to." Dr. Martinez said, emphasizing for him to hurry up and let her pass.

The guard grunted and jerked his head in a stiff nod as he shuffled out of the doorway.

"Thank you." Dr. Martinez said curtly as she hurried down the hallway, the door slamming shut behind her.

Dr. Martinez rushed down the corridors, silently praying that there wouldn't be any more guards or curious whitecoats in the vicinity.

After a few short corners, Dr. Martinez saw the other two bags hidden behind a rolling cart in the hallway. This was the closest that she could get to Max and Fang's cell without getting caught. Jeb had at least four guards around Max and Fang's door at all times. Those guards just happened to be Erasers.

Dr. Martinez carefully dropped the sacks and did a quick glance at both directions of the hallway. No one was in sight.

"Okay, it's safe now." Dr. Martinez said, still carefully watching to see if anyone would appear in the hallway.

The sacks rustled as Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Iggy fumbled out of the brown cloth bags.

"It was so dark in there , I was about to go insane! I hate confined places! And next time we go undercover in cloth bags, please try to be more careful; it really hurt when…" Nudge chattered. Iggy rolled his sightless crystal blue eyes and covered Nudge's yammering mouth. He knew that she chatted when she was nervous or upset, but now was definitely not the time. He'd duct tape her mouth shut if he had to. Her constant prattling could get them all killed or captured.

Dr. Martinez's brown eyes looked at them all worriedly. This could be a perfect plan, or a horrible one. She may never see them again, and She'd grown to love the Flock like her own kids.

"We'll be fine. We've done stuff like this more than you think we have." Iggy said seriously. Dr. Martinez sort of wished that he was kidding, but she knew that he wasn't.

"You'd better hurry before someone comes. Good luck." Dr. Martinez said.

Nudge blinked back tears, as did Angel and even Gazzy looked a little teary eyed. They all gave Dr. Martinez a quick hug. Iggy nodded in Dr. Martinez's direction; a silent but sure promise that he would take care of the kids with his life and that he'd rescue Max. He still didn't know about Fang, nor did the rest of the Flock excluding Angel.

Dr. Martinez didn't tell them about Fang. She figured that Max would be the one who'd want to introduce him to the Flock.

Iggy nodded tersely at Nudge. Nudge scrunched her dark eyebrows together and squinted her eyes shut, intently concentrating on using her magnetism to unscrew the tightly wound bolts that kept the shaft entrance shut.

The door shuttered, and then within moments, the screws flew away from the shaft and into Nudge's outstretched hand.

Dr. Martinez stared in awe. For the most part, she was still oblivious to the Flocks' 'skills'. She'd known about Gazzy's mimicry and unfortunate other talent that earned him the name 'The Gasman', but that was it.

Dr. Martinez regained her serious composure, internally marveling on how amazing these kids were and how urgently they needed to save Max before Jeb would somehow make Max and Fang mate with one another.

Iggy Gazzy grabbed the metal vent cover and propped it against the white wall.

One by one, each of the bird kids crawled into the vent. Their thin frames enabled them to crawl military style through the slim vent shafts. They could navigate through the air duct system like professionals.

Nudge was the last Flock member to enter the shaft. With a wave of her hand, the shaft cover clanged back into place and the screws flew into their sockets and twirled into place. It was like no one had even tampered with the vent cover.

"Good luck." Dr. Martinez whispered into the shaft, her soft whisper reverberating off the metal sides of the shaft.

With that, Dr. Martinez took the cart and put the bags on it. She walked back towards Eraser building, hoping and praying that the rescue mission worked out well.

Meanwhile, the Flock crawled through the air ducts, Angel leading the way. Angel followed Max's thoughts and Iggy followed the sounds made by the Flock.

_Hang on, Max. We're coming._ Iggy thought .

-XOXO-

Max laid unconscious in a dog crate. She was unaware of what had happened, or where she was. She was still in a dreamless sleep, the most peaceful that she'd been in days.

Max was in a room full of other dog crates; crates stacked in perfect rows.

In moments, she woke up in a haze, panicked. She didn't know where she was or what had happened to her.

The sounds of pitiful whining and mournful keening reached her ears. Ice gripped her heart.

_I'm in the School._ Max thought, barely breathing. Then, she remembered Jeb's conversation with her not too long ago. How he said that the School was in the park.

Memories rushed at her like a flood, but she couldn't remember how she got in the cage or what had aspired over the past hour.

Her brain was fully awake and functional at this point, and that's when she realized that she had no clothes on.

Suddenly feeling exposed, Max crossed her arms over her chest, as if it would help her become clothed. She couldn't remember why she was unclothed. It was like one of those nightmares, where all of a sudden, you have no clothes.

As Max squirmed uncomfortably, she felt an aching pain in a very sensitive area, unlike anything she'd previously encountered. The pain wasn't unbearable but it sure was noteworthy. She couldn't recall anything that would cause this.

The last thing that she remembered was Ari injecting something in her arm and saying, "You'd better start picking out baby names, Maxie."

Then, Max pieced everything together. She still couldn't remember what had happened the past hour, but she figured out what had happened during that time.

Max felt like howling in frustration and despair. Jeb had gotten his way. She had made love with Fang, and now life would crumble to pieces. It was all really, truly, over.

This was all wrong! It wasn't supposed to happen this way! She couldn't even remember it!

Max refused to let the tears fall, even though her soul begged for it. She would not give anyone in this hellhole the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Max glanced around the room, looking for a way out, and maybe some clothes. She didn't want to bust out of here, butt naked, but she would if she had to. It would sure shock the Erasers, and maybe the whitecoats; or maybe not. These were some sick, twisted people after all.

Max's eyes darted past dozens and dozens of crates filled with poor little mutants. Her eyes rested on a table in the back. It was only because of her raptor vision that she could see that far in the dank, dark lighting of the room.

There were a few stacks of folded scrubs lying on the table. At this point, Max couldn't care less about what was on the table, even if it was those horrible short clothes that she'd been forced to where for a while when she was still imprisoned here the first time. She would wear anything at this point. At least until she could snatch some t-shirts and jeans.

Max took a deep breath, planning her next move. With that deep inhale, she smelled that familiar, intoxicating smell that she loved even more than she did before. She smelled the spicy, musky scent that lingered wherever Fang was.

Max looked desperately around the room, but there was no sign of the dark, winged mutant anywhere.

Max wondered where the smell was coming from.

Max encased herself with her wings, as much as the dog crate would allow. Max sufficiently encased herself with her wings when she smelled Fang's scent again. She then realized that Fang's scent was on _her_. It wasn't strong, but it was definitely there.

Max didn't know whether to sigh in contentment or scream in frustration. Most likely, she would resort to the second one. She liked the fact that even when she couldn't see Fang, she could still have a reminder of him. However, that would make her think of why she had Fang's scent on her, and that thought alone could almost put her into tears.

It wasn't like she didn't love Fang, she did, more than anything, but the timing and circumstances and emotions behind their actions were all wrong. She wanted to have kids with Fang, eventually, when they were older, and somewhat safe, and did it because they loved each other. Not because they were forced to by some sick drug. It was supposed to be a memorable experience, and now it was completely ruined; and it was all Jeb's fault.

Max listened intently as she heard a metallic clang. Then there were footsteps. She didn't hear the door open or close, and with her keen hearing, she definitely would have. Max didn't dare uncover herself with her wings to look at the strangers in the room. She would listen instead. If it was whitecoats, or anyone else, how did they get in here if they didn't use the door?

Max heard whispering voices. Voices that she recognized.

"She's here. I'll find her. Follow me." A small voice said. Max couldn't believe her ears. The Flock had come to save her, even after she'd left them for a suicide mission to avenge Fang. They would be so surprised when they learned that Fang was alive.

Max suddenly turned red at the thought of the Flock seeing her… without clothes on. For once, she was sort of glad that Iggy was blind, but she didn't want to give Gazzy a heart attack.

Max tightened her wings around her body.

"I'm here!" Max shouted. She wasn't heard over the dull roar of the other experiments making random noises at the Flock.

"She's a few aisles down! She's awake!" Angel shouted happily. Angel's heart was racing with joy. She was about to get Max, the first mom that she remembered back! Only this time, Max wouldn't be sad all the time. Max would be happy because Fang would be there with her.

The closer that Angel got to Max, the clearer Max's thoughts were. Angel could decipher complete thoughts now.

From what Angel could understand, Max wasn't wearing any clothes and Max was very sore. Angel didn't know why Max wasn't wearing any clothes. The School had always at least given them white cotton pants and shirts to wear.

Angel was stumped with that, but sympathized with Max about the pain. They had probably done awful things to her. They might have run tests on Max like they had done to the Flock at the School all those years ago.

Angel glimpsed into Iggy's mind. She wanted to see how he was feeling about the jailbreak.

Iggy was elated about the thought of Max; so happy, that it was practically blinding to Angel. Iggy was a little miffed at Max for leaving the Flock, and beneath the happiness was despair that she still loved Fang more than she liked him or the Flock. Iggy was fearful at what the park might have done to her. If they had hurt her, Iggy was going to kick some Freak Fest butt. Iggy's joy of getting Max back overcame the other emotions for the most part.

Nudge and Gazzy were just giddy with the adrenaline that the danger brought and blissful at the thought of getting Max, the newest Flock member back.

Angel then sensed the dark, foreign thoughts of Fang nearby. Angel got a wonderful idea.

While the rest of the Flock would be embracing and catching up on all that they missed with Max, Angel would go and free Fang. Angel couldn't wait to see everyone's faces when he came into sight; or in Iggy's case, range of hearing.

Angel sprinted as fast as she could past little mutants in cages, who she felt terribly sorry for but couldn't do anything for right at the moment, until she skidded to a halt in front of a large Kanine Kamper. All that Angel could see was brown and white feathers, but she knew that Max was hiding behind her feathers.

"Max!" Angel squealed. Angel was grinning. She knew that Max was grinning too, despite her mysterious pain, but not an inch of Max's skin could be seen past all her feathers.

The rest of the Flock's sneakers squeaked as they backpedaled. They bumped into each other as they came to an abrupt halt.

"Max!" They all said, almost in unison.

"Hey guys," Max said, relief evident in her voice. Nudge immediately popped the latch and opened the cage door. Max didn't move from her spot in the cage. They all looked at her strangely. Iggy even understood that something was amiss. He had heard the latch pop, but he didn't hear Max get out of the cage.

"Umm… guys? I'm… I'm not wearing any clothes. There's a pile of scrubs on a table by the wall over there." Max said.

"Gazzy," Iggy started, suddenly afraid. He had a very, very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach now. Nothing good could have occurred if Max wasn't wearing anything.

"Way ahead of you." Gazzy said, his cheeks a cute shade of crimson. Gazzy couldn't run away from the clothes-less Max any faster.

Nudge giggled timidly amidst the awkward turn that the events had taken. They didn't notice as Angel slowly edged away. Angel then headed off in the direction of Fang.

"Max." Iggy said evenly, trying to cover the unstableness in his voice. "Um, is there any particular reason that you're not wearing… um… any… clothes." Iggy's face turned red at the thought. Nudge was internally glad that Iggy had the decency to feel embarrassed for Max instead of cracking some sick jokes at her expense. At least he had enough common sense to know that Max was already embarrassed and ashamed and emotionally stretched as it was, and she didn't need aggravation at the moment.

Max inhaled a shaky breath. Iggy's heart constricted. He knew that when Max's breathing hitched like that, that she was either crying, or about to; and both of those options didn't make the situation look any more optimistic.

"Are the little kids around?" Max asked softly. Even over the noise that the other caged experiments were making, both Iggy and Nudge had heard Max's words.

"No, Gazz's still gone to get scrubs and Angel probably went over there to help him get the right size. He's clueless when it comes to clothes, I remember when…" Nudge burst out, unable to contain her nervous prattle any longer. Iggy swiftly covered Ndge's mouth in one smooth, well practiced movement.

Max didn't say anything for a minute.

"Jeb, the park owner, really wanted me to have a baby. Really, really bad. I wouldn't though. There was no way. So he had us injected with this hormone stuff and we…we… I didn't have a choice! I can barely even remember what happened! I just know that… that… I didn't have a choice!" Max said; her voice cracked. She really didn't want to talk about it.

Iggy clenched his fists in anger. Max's sentences were broken and somewhat confusing, but he understood what happened. He was more furious than he had ever remembered being.

"You said we." Iggy growled through clenched teeth. Max flinched at his tone.

"Who was the other person, Max?" Nudge said softly. She scowled at Iggy. She knew that Iggy was mad, but he didn't have to speak like that to Max. She was already terrified as it was.

Max shuddered, trying to contain her sobs. She couldn't help it. She just had to cry, but she struggled to bottle it until she was alone. She didn't want to worry the Flock more than they already had.

Iggy was gritting his teeth; his fists were now a deathly shade of white. He was irate. No one, no one, no one could do that to Max; nobody. He silently swore with every explicit word that he knew mentally. He _would_ kill the person who raped Max. There was no other word for it.

Gazzy was back with the clothes. Iggy was too enraged, Gazzy was too busy blushing and Nudge was too shell-shocked to wonder where Angel was.

Gazzy quickly handed Nudge the pale blue scrubs and immediately turned to look in the other direction. Nudge slid the scrubs into the cage.

"Okay, Max. We won't look. Just put these on and then we'll get you out of here." Max immediately wiped her eyes. She peeked over the edge of her wing to see if they all had really turned around. Everyone but Iggy had turned around. Iggy was standing still as a statue; his face uncharacteristically angry.

As if on cue, Nudge elbowed Iggy in the gut, hard by the looks of it.

"I'm blind!" Iggy practically shouted.

"No, really? I would have never guessed! Now turn around!" Max managed. Iggy mumbled something unintelligible and made a show of rolling his eyes, but he turned around. Max had to get out of the cage so that he could move around enough to put on clothes. She slid on the shirt and drawstring pants faster than she ever had before. She would have to cut slits in the back if they were expected to fly out of the park.

Without a word, Nudge handed Max a pocket knife, which was a must-have for all Flock members, even the fashion-frenzied Nudge. Max cut long slits in the back of her shirt, the sharp blade cutting easily through the thin material.

"I'm done." Max said, her voice quiet. She wasn't feeling like her normal self. It hurt to stand and she thought that Iggy was mad at her for letting that happen to her.

The Flock turned around and enveloped Max in a hug. Angel was still missing and Iggy stood stock still, not moving at all.

Max smiled, but the short flutter of happiness in her heart soon faded. She was hoping that Iggy would understand that she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to put the Flock in extra-danger now that she could have a baby, but Max had really wanted Iggy to not be mad at her.

"I'm sorry, Iggy. I never wanted… Please don't be mad at me." Max said; her voice almost inaudible against the clamor in the room. Iggy's head snapped in her direction, a shocked expression replacing his livid one.

He stepped toward Max until he was right in front of her.

"I'm not mad at you. I could never be mad at you." Iggy said to Max in a softer tone. Max hugged him fiercely. She'd missed that.

Iggy momentarily stiffened, not used to the affection from Max, but was contented with it. His arms wrapped around her in an embrace, allowing himself a small smile. He took a deep breath, but stiffened.

Iggy had enhanced senses, even more so than the rest of his Flock. It almost made up for his lack of vision; almost.

Iggy smelled a scent that didn't belong on Max. Amidst her normal scent, there was a thicker, definitely masculine scent clinging to her. She practically reeked of another guy.

There was only one explanation of why she smelled like another guy, and the scent being so strong. It was the scent of the guy who had made love with Max. Iggy's mind went almost blank with rage. He recognized the scent. He didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be possible, but it had to be. The nose knows and he was not mistaken.

"_He did this to you!_" Iggy hissed as he immediately broke free of Max's embrace. Max stumbled back, afraid of Iggy. He couldn't know that Fang was alive and would be the father of the baby, if she had one.

"I… who are you taking about?" Max said, feigning stupidity. She had hoped that he really didn't know. She was planning on telling Iggy after he had cooled down and they had brought her, the rest of the Flock, and Fang back to somewhere safe.

"You know who I'm talking about! _Fang_ did this to you!" Iggy spat. Max's heart practically stopped. She'd never seen Iggy so angry. This was very bad. If she didn't explain things before they saw Fang, Iggy would try to tear Fang to shreds.

"Well, yes, but…" Max was instantly cut off.

"_You!_" Iggy said venomously. His head turned towards the right.

The Flock looked and gasped in astonishment. Max's heart dropped into her stomach.

Farther down the aisle, clad in blue scrubs, stood Fang, and he looked twice as scary as Iggy. Angel stood behind Fang, her mouth open in shock.

"Don't talk to Max like that." Fang said in Avian to Iggy.

Iggy cursed at Fang in Avian, not worried that the younger kids understood Avian as well.

Without warning, Iggy lunged at Fang. Max knew from the beginning that Fang was going to win if any fights broke out. Iggy was still her friend, and she didn't want him to get hurt. He was being thickheaded, but he didn't understand the whole story.

Iggy's fist whistled as he threw a blow to the side of Fang's jaw. Fang easily blocked the blow. Iggy spun, undeterred. He used the momentum to fuel a rib splintering side kick. Fang fell to the ground, and in an instant Iggy had his knee on Fang's chest, keeping him pinned to the floor.

Max was surprised, she couldn't believe that Iggy was actually sort of winning the fight. Months after living with Iggy had taught her never to underestimate the blind bird-kid, but she never expected him to gain any footing against Fang, who was the best of the best in hand-to-hand combat.

Iggy punched Fang in the nose, snarling maliciously at Fang as blood spurted out of his nose. Fang stared at Iggy, his eyes coldly furious, but it was all lost on Iggy, who couldn't see Fang's paralyzing glare.

Iggy had Fang's arms pinned to his sides, and then reached for Fang's exposed throat.

Fang growled so venomously, that it made the hair stand up on Max's neck. Fang swiftly threw Iggy off of him. Fang was on his feet again instantly, and kicked Iggy hard on the chin. Iggy's head snapped sideways; it looked like Fang had snapped Iggy's neck.

Nudge stifled a shriek.

Iggy hissed in pain, so everyone knew that he was still alive and conscious. Then, Fang was on top of Iggy, just like before, only the roles were reversed.

Coldly emotionless and not uttering a sound, Fang grabbed Iggy's throat and squeezed, steadily increasing his force.

"Stop it!" Max shouted angrily from the side, tears blurring her vision. She couldn't lose Iggy. He had come to save her; he was her family, like a brother. He would die, never hearing the whole story. Iggy _couldn't_ die.

Fang didn't relent. Iggy could feel himself growing weaker as he fought for breath. His thoughts started to get more and more hazy. He accepted the fact that he was about to die. He was just mad at himself for not getting Max out of there safely. He loved her, more than a sibling or friend would, and she would never really know.

Iggy was strangely aware of the hot liquid steadily dripping on to his face. Iggy knew that it was blood from Fang's damaged nose. Iggy was glad that he had at least injured Fang.

Iggy tried with all the energy that he had left to throw Fang off, like Iggy had been thrown off a moment ago, but couldn't budge Fang. Fang only tightened his death hold around Iggy's throat. Iggy's skin got a bluish tint to it.

Max couldn't let Fang kill Iggy. Max tackled Fang. Max and Fang tumbled away from Iggy, who was gasping for air.

Max pinned Fang to the ground, tears distorting Fang's confused stare.

"Hey, hey." Fang said softly speaking in Avian, the only language that he knew. With one free arm, he reached up and brushed Max's tears away. She tried to smile, but to her disappointment, she started to sob uncontrollably. She couldn't have a baby. They had a hard enough life as it was and she didn't want a baby; not now. She loved Fang, more than anything. She couldn't do this to him.

"It's alright. Everything's alright." Fang murmured. Max got off of him and Fang embraced Max, letting her cry on his shoulder. He gently rubbed circled in between her wings, the way that she liked. The Flock was gathered by Iggy, making sure that he was still alive.

Max chuckled amongst her tears. Fang loosened the embrace enough so that he could see her face.

"What's so funny?" Fang said in Avian, puzzled. Max did manage to smile.

"This isn't how I wanted you to meet the Flock." Max replied in Avian.

"He started it." Fang retorted. Max laughed; something that she thought she would never do again.

"What the heck is going on here?" Iggy wheezed, his sightless blue eyes narrowed in Max and Fang's general direction.

"Fang's alive." Max said in English. She didn't know where else to start.

"No freaking duh." Iggy said with dark humor.

"It's a long story!" Max shot back. "I'll tell you when we're not in the middle of a cesspool of evil!"

"Escaping would be nice." Fang said in Avian. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He rarely talked to anyone except for Max. Max felt horrible; Fang had never even seen the outside world, not once. She had been free for months until recently. Max silently swore that she would show Fang all the amazing things that she had seen and learned.

"You'll explain later." Iggy ordered to Max. She glared at him. Iggy would get an explanation, but he was _not_ allowed to boss her around.

Fang and Max walked over to the Flock. The Flock, except for Iggy, looked at Fang as if here some mythical creature come to life. They couldn't believe that _the _Fang, the Fang that Max always thought and talked about, the Fang who was supposed to be dead was now right in front of them and very much alive.

Fang looked at them, his emotion undecipherable. Fang then stiffened and his face instantly contorted in pain.

He struggled to step back a few paces.

"Go." Fang ordered in Avian. Max watched in horror as Fang morphed into a pure black Eraser. Nudge shrieked. Iggy tried to step in front of Max protectively, but she shoved him aside.

Iggy stepped in front of the kids instead. He didn't know what had happened, but it couldn't be good.

"What happened?" Iggy whispered irritably.

"Fang's an… Eraser." Angel whispered in fear. Angel's heart hurt for Fang. He loathed himself. He wanted to tear himself to shreds for what he had become, even though it wasn't his fault that he was an Eraser.

"Oh yes, and the party has just begun." Ari cackled from behind them. Max and the Flock swiveled to look at the door. In the excitement, no one had heard it open.

Behind Ari, stood a few dozen Erasers.

"You're never getting out of here." Ari sneered. The Erasers growled in agreement. The Flock looked at Fang who was stepping farther and farther away from the Flock.

Now let's see a real fight! Let's watch Maxie's little lover here eat the little blond boy!" Ari said with relish as he revealed the horrid little remote that controlled Fang's actions. Ari's clawed finger tapped the 'kill' button. Fang's eyes looked desperately sad as he had no choice, but to charge toward the Flock, his intentions intent on killing Gazzy.

**That took a ridiculously long time to write, but I really don't have time to write anymore. Keep that in mind as you review. **


	22. Fate Has A Remote

**Hey! Well, here's the next chapter! Thank you all again so much for reviewing, it means so much to me! This is to all of you who read and review, and everyone in between! Thank you for the encouragement and support!**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to James Patterson… even though he is wasting their potential…**

**Chapter 22: Fate has a Remote**

Max looked into Eraser-Fang's dark eyes. She noticed that the thick black fur on the top of his head looked a lot like his normal shaggy black hair. The fur on the top of his head kind of covered a portion of his eyes, but the terrible sorrow and remorse that his eyes radiated was not concealed.

Ari scowled and smashed the button harder. The emotion that was usually absent in Fang's obsidian eyes was instantly replaced with a dark bloodlust and hunger that terrified Max. She couldn't imagine that sort of emotion coming from Fang in his human form. This _was _Fang though. Then again, it wasn't Fang.

Fang's teeth elongated into dagger-like fangs that were several inches in length. Jagged claws erupted from his fingertips. It two bounding leaps on all fours, Fang leaped into the ranks of the flock.

"Gazzy!" Angel shrieked. Iggy roared in rage as he tackled Fang.

Iggy knew that he was doomed, but he had to protect his Flock. With his mouth set in a grim line, Iggy silently recalled all of the weak points on an Eraser's body.

Iggy heard the whistling of Fang's claws swiping through the air before they struck. Iggy leapt back, but Fang's long Eraser claws still left shallow bloody furrows on the right side of Iggy's face.

Fang growled a deep bass sound that chilled any unfortunate bystander to the core.

Nudge and Angel stood in front of a terrified and slightly insulted-looking Gazzy. Gazzy hated that he had to be protected and disliked that he was being treated like a little defenseless child. However, when he saw how terrifying Eraser-Fang was and how deadly he was when he fought as an Avian-human, Gazzy was scared to death to see what Fang would be like when he was a remorseless flesh-devouring monster.

Ari and his pack of idiot Eraser friends only watched with sadistic glee as Fang slowly ripped Iggy to pieces.

Iggy was quick, but not as skilled as Fang. Fang had sheer size and strength against Iggy. Fang's heavily muscled Eraser build easily surpassed Iggy's own strength. Iggy aimed a high kick at where Fang's head was, hoping to stun him for a moment. Fang sidestepped the blow and clamped his terrible jaws on to Iggy's leg. Iggy howled in pain. Fang's razor sharp canine teeth effortlessly tore through the denim of Iggy's jeans and sank into his flesh.

Blood poured from Iggy's wound and into Fang's mouth.

As an Eraser, the blood tasted sweet in Fang's mouth. The blood trickling down his throat made his long-since-empty stomach moan in hunger. The blood tasted delicious, and he wanted nothing more than to rip out a chunk of bird-kid flesh and greedily devour it.

Iggy barely had any balance on one leg, and flailed, making Fang reflexively clamp harder on to Iggy's leg. His fangs brushed bone and Iggy stifled a shout of pain.

Nudge couldn't stand to see Iggy in pain, so she abandoned her post of guarding Gazzy and charged Fang. Nudge leapt on to Fang's furry back and wrapped her hands around his throat, squeezing as hard as she could. Fang involuntarily gagged and released Iggy's leg, his blood staining the white marble floor.

One Eraser broke from Ari's ranks, not being able to smell the tantalizing scent of fresh blood any longer. Ari barked at the Eraser to get its butt back into his rank, but the Eraser was overcome with its overwhelming hunger and bloodlust.

Fang threw Nudge off, and she crashed into a bunch of dog crates, not moving from her crumpled position.

The Eraser ran towards the pool of blood on the ground, but Fang intercepted the Eraser. In a frightening display of feral fighting, Fang grabbed the other Eraser's throat and tore it out. With a muffled scream, the Eraser toppled to the ground, its blood mixing with the pool of blood on the floor.

With the scent of blood reminding Fang of his paralyzing hunger, Eraser-Fang tore into the other Eraser's carcass, swallowing huge hunks of met whole.

Max stared at the gruesome sight. She looked at Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy's faces. Angel and Gazzy had a mixture of horror and fear on their young faces. Iggy heard the disgusting squelching and tearing noises of Fang ripping out flesh and looked a sickly green color.

Iggy was terrified that Fang was eating Nudge, but knew that Nudge had landed somewhere behind him and whatever Fang was eating was in the opposite direction.

Max glanced desperately at Nudge, who still hadn't moved from the pile of toppled crates.

Max finally looked at the disgusting cretin Ari and his bully brigade. Ari and the rest of the Erasers even looked like they were going to be sick. Max assumed that they never thought that Erasers could be cannibals.

_That's what they get for starving him._ Max thought with a morbid grimness.

Ari looked especially pale, his clawed, half morphed hand shaking, and he was no longer smiling.

Max glanced at over at Eraser-Fang; who had finished scarfing down as much meat as he could stomach. Where the dead Eraser once was, there was a pile of white bones and fur left in its place.

With his belly pleasantly full, Fang still had unspoken orders to follow; he had to kill the little blond bird kid. He could probably eat the little blond-bird boy too, the boy was really small and scrawny. Fang bared his teeth, blood dripping from his long fangs.

Eraser-Fang slowly advanced on the two smaller bird kids, Angel and Gazzy. He was the image of a nightmare come to life. Iggy heard the claws on Fang's hind paws clicking against the polished marble tiles. Iggy heard Gazzy stifle a whimper of terror.

Coldly furious, Iggy got up from where he was laying on the floor and attempted to go over to Gazzy and Angel, fully intent on protecting them until his last breath. Iggy tried to put weight on his leg, but wobbled and immediately collapsed on the floor. He couldn't crawl over to them in time, and if he did, what good would he be able to do? Iggy would only be able to hear Angel and Gazzy's terrified cries as they would be brutally slaughtered.

Max set her face into a hard, determined expression.

She _would not_ let Ari ruin her life, not anymore. It was totally and completely Ari's fault that this was happening. She wouldn't let him do any more damage.

Max sprinted towards Ari at high speed. Ari saw her coming and snapped his fingers, his jagged Eraser claws clacking together as he did so.

The few dozen Erasers ran towards Max. Max blocked a punch from an Eraser, jarring her shoulder. Ignoring the pain of her partially dislocated shoulder, Max turned and swung a high kick to an Eraser's jaw. The Erasers had circled around Max, and were all eagerly awaiting their chance to attack her.

The Eraser that Max had hit in the jaw staggered back and was shoved out of the way by the impatient Eraser behind him. That Eraser punched Max in the gut and her breath left her in a moment. The rest of the Eraser's took advantage of her temporary injury and attacked her from all sides. Max fought them all off valiantly, blocking as many as she could and dealing out quite a few blows to nameless Erasers. Their sheer power and numbers soon overwhelmed her and she was lost in a sea of teeth, claws, and fur. One Eraser bit greedily into Max's side.

She couldn't smother her shriek of pain. Ari glanced over at them with mild interest, a twinge of annoyance glazing his wolfish features.

"Hey, watch it! You could damage the merchandise! Dad will kill me if she loses the baby." Ari barked.

Fang was just in front of Angel and Gazzy when his pointed wolf ears twitched from the sound of Max's pained shriek. A boiling, smothering feeling arose within him, and with it came a flash of memory; when Max kissed him once before, he was still an Eraser and she'd gotten him to morph back, even when the remote didn't tell him to morph.

Fang struggled to remember more. He clung to that happy memory of Max like his life depended on it. In reality, Gazzy and Angel's lives depended on it.

Max, Max, _Max_. Fang remembered some stuff about her, but it was blurry. Mostly, he remembered emotions. Max made him feel so blissfully happy and joyful that it startled him. This other, passionate, almost indescribable feeling filled him when he thought about Max. It could only be love. He loved her, more than anything.

Max yelped, this time, her voice was more faint. Fang's growl was murderous and Angel cringed at the sound. She was trying to help Fang remember, but it was impossible to get a hold of his mind. It was like it was covered in slick soap.

Without warning, Fang turned away from Gazzy and Angel and bounded on all fours toward the flurry of Erasers.

He didn't remember anything else, but he loved Max, and he had to help her; and if that meant killing every last one of these Erasers, so be it.

The Erasers released surprised yelps as he descended on them, terrifying and the last thing that the Eraser ever saw.

Fang slashed and tore his way through Erasers, leaving only corpses of fallen Erasers behind him.

Fang tore out an Eraser's throat, and with a strangled cry, it fell; blood spurting into the air like a fountain.

Then, Fang caught sight of the Erasers that were tormenting Max. When he saw the bite marks in her side, he howled in fury, producing a sound that could freeze blood within anyone's veins.

Fang leaped on to one Eraser that was holding Max down, and buried his Fangs into the Eraser's beefy neck. With a vicious jerk, The Eraser's neck snapped, sounding like the breaking of a wet branch. The sound gave Max goose bumps, but she was elated. Fang remembered her. He still loved her! He could fight through the remote's power!

Max punched the other Eraser with her free hand and Fang completed the kill by crushing the Eraser's windpipe with his bare hands.

Dead Erasers littered the floor and Ari looked paler than ever. Max sprinted towards Ari, with Eraser-Fang by her side.

Ari bolted from the room, the remote tumbling from his trembling fingers. The door locked behind Ari.

Max grabbed the remote and clicked on the 'clear all' button. Hopefully, that would make him morph back into his normal, Avian-human self.

Fang shuddered and morphed back, his skin covered in sweat and his lean muscles trembling.

Fang looked at Max.

"Kill me." He said in Avian, his eyes regaining that terrible, despairing look that they contained before he was ordered to attack Gazzy.

"No, Fang. I'm going to get you out of here, and we'll work this out." Max said evenly. Angel and Gazzy were watching Fang with their undivided attention.

Fang was quiet. He spat out blood from his mouth. Then, Fang stared at his bloodstained hands.

"I can't live like this." Fang said quietly, and Max could have sworn that his voice might have cracked from emotion, but she couldn't be sure.

"You won't have to. We'll work through this, together. I can't live without you." Max said, the last sentence surprising her as much as it did Fang. She didn't intend to say that last part aloud.

Fang looked at her, his emotion undecipherable.

Then, his hand clutched his stomach and Fang looked like he was going to be sick.

"Fang?" Max asked, worry leaking into her voice. She'd never seen him sick before, there had to be something seriously wrong. Maybe that 'DNA unraveling' and other scientific mumbo-jumbo that DR. Martinez had talked about was actually happening. What if he was dying?

Max walked over towards Fang, but he turned and bolted down a few rows of mutant crates and out of everyone's sight.

Max heard horrible retching sounds and the gut-wrenching noise of Fang being violently sick from the other side of the room.

Iggy grimaced at the sound and Gazzy and Angel went over to see if Nudge was alright. They didn't have much time before Ari returned with more security.

Fang had gotten sick from all the raw bloody meat that he'd eaten when he was an Eraser. Blood and raw meat no longer tasted good to him, now that he was once again Avian-human. Also, the vast quantities of meat no longer fit in his regular sized stomach.

Angel and Gazzy helped Nudge to her feet. She was dazed, but alright. Nudge flipped out when she saw the bite marks on Iggy's leg. Nudge tore a piece of fabric off of Iggy's shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage for Iggy's injury. However, Iggy still couldn't put weight on his leg, so Nudge acted as a human-Avian crutch and helped Iggy walk.

"Well, I guess that I must have tasted delicious." Iggy said sarcastically as he motioned with his head to where the retching noises were coming from. Max looked at Iggy darkly, but it was lost on him.

"Obviously. I doubt that you would be in better condition if you ate a whole Eraser." Max shot back. Iggy gagged from the thought.

"Well, lover boy had better contain himself for now, because Ari could be back any second." Iggy said, speaking his nickname for Fang with bitter resentment.

At that very moment, the gagging sounds ceased and Fang appeared from around the corner, paler than a corpse. Nudge cringed at his unnatural pallor. Everyone except for Iggy felt bad for him.

"Well, that's everybody, let's get out of here before dog-boy here decides to eat another one of these dead bodies." Iggy said darkly. Iggy resented Fang for more reasons than one, the first being the fact that he'd practically raped Max, from Iggy's understanding, and the fact that Max _still_ loved Fang more than Iggy. There was also the fact that Fang had almost killed them all.

Max growled, and Fang immediately appeared behind her; too ill to do anything but try really hard not to hurl.

It was pretty mean of her, but in Max's opinion, he deserved it. Max kicked Iggy's good leg out from under him and he fell to the floor, taking Nudge with him. Nudge glared at Max for a moment, then remembered that it was really Iggy's fault for making that rude comment and redirected her glare to Iggy.

Iggy hissed in pain, but Max marched over to Gazzy and Angel, with Fang following her, a few steps behind.

The Flock, all battered but assembled, led Max and Fang to the vent. As they crawled back in and Nudge used her magnetic skill to close the vent behind them, Ari burst in, and the park went into lockdown. The flock was still hidden, but trapped within the walls of the Freak Fest.

**Not one of my longer chapters, but was it okay? I just wanted to get another chapter up. The chapters really reflect my mood, so who really knows how the next chapter will turn out? Hint- reviews put me in a much better mood. **


	23. A Disorganized Exodus

**Hey, sorry about the wait. Things are killing me at home. Like, bad. And for those reviews I didn't reply to, I'm deeply sorry, and I dedicate this chapter to you. It's totally my fault. I lost the list of reviews that I needed to reply to. **

**Disclaimer: Not in the mood. Really. Back. Off. **

**Chapter 23:**

Most normal human kids would make all kinds of noise if they crawled through an air vent, if they could even squeeze through. However, bird kids are light and lean; making them able to crawl, military style, through miles of tight, metal vents. It was almost as if they were built for it.

The only problem was that almost every bid-kid was bleeding, especially Max and Fang, who were bringing up the rear of the group. The blood made the thin metal of the shaft slick and slippery, causing occasional slip-and-slide incidents.

Fang would fall over dead before ever admitting it, but he was feeling lightheaded, dizzy, and even weak from blood loss. It didn't help that his stomach felt like it was suffering through the spin cycle of a washing machine.

Max wasn't doing much better. The bite in Max's side was bleeding constantly and sweat poured from her every pore, which stung her open wounds terribly. She gritted her teeth in silent agony. She was also still sore a bit from her drug induced slumber party with Fang, but that was nothing compared to the trillions of other nerves that were screaming in anguish. Her broken arm, which Dr. Martinez had wrapped so nicely from what seemed like days ago, was still throbbing steadily and getting increasingly more painful every time she put weight on it. Max was thoroughly miserable.

Gazzy hoped to God that he wouldn't have one of his 'incidents', the sort of a gaseous nature, right there in that enclosed space, or they'd all die before they even got out of the vent. He didn't know which thought was worse, the idea of being eaten alive by Erasers, suffering endless torment at the hands of soulless whitecoats, or death by fart in an air vent.

Nudge was almost hyperventilating with the effort that it took to restrain her warp-speed chatter. She prattled mindlessly when she was relaxed. She spoke faster that an auctioneer when she was slightly nervous or freaked out. She was almost unintelligible when she was truly nervous. Even the slightest whisper or noise could very well get them killed. Nudge didn't want to be the reason that she and all of her friends died.

Iggy was quietly seething from behind Angel. He was the one who got Max out of the Freak Fest in the first place. Not Fang. He was the one who taught Max English. Not Fang. He was the one who taught Max all the great things in life, like music, games, TV and bacon. Not Fang. He was the one who stuck by Max when she shoved him away, he was the one who comforted Max when her broken heart was too much to handle, he was the one who did everything that he could for her, he pieced Max's broken heart back together the best that could be done. Not Fang. Deep down, Iggy was more hurt than angry. He just didn't see why Max didn't see that Iggy loved her too. He didn't understand why she couldn't return his feelings. He was better at being angry than being heartbroken. Plus, the anger kept adrenaline pump through his veins. Anger distracted him from the aching pain radiating from his core.

Angel saw each and every one of the other Flock members' thoughts and felt their waves of emotions rolling off of them like the marbled scents of strong perfume wafting out of a department store. Her heart ached for Iggy, who'd been physically injured and abused countless times. He can't see because of it. But he'd never known a pain that was as mind numbing as this. Angel knew that Iggy would be hurt at first, but she never expected it to be so bad.

She knew that Fang was gradually slinking farther and farther away from the group, struggling to keep up with the Flock's feverish pace. Angel sent him anonymous waves of a general comforting feeling to make him feel better and Fang stopped for a moment, as if straining to listen to a soft strain of beautiful music. He then sped up, catching up with the group with a new energy. Angel smiled a secret smile in the darkness, happy to help ease Fang's suffering, even if only for a moment.

Angel also saw that Max's emotions were more mixed up that Iggy's leftover soup, the name being self-explanatory. Anxiety, pain, hate, love, relief, annoyance, impatience, excitement, and even fear pulsed through Max's thoughts. It was enough emotion to make Angel's head throb. Angel quickly withdrew from Max's mind and focused on Dr. Martinez's thoughts, and continued leading the Flock through the labyrinth of ducts.

It was almost pitch black in the vent, with only little shreds of light peeking in through slim slits in various vent covers. However, all bird kids possessed a superb night vision. Well, except for Iggy, but he was following the sounds of Angel, who was leading the troop of weary but adrenaline amped avian-hybrids.

The encouraging feelings that Angel had sent to Fang were rapidly wearing off and he was once again drifting farther and farther away from the Flock. The muscles in Fang's arms were shaking from exhaustion. All of that morphing and un-morphing into an Eraser took a ridiculous amount of energy. It was a miracle within itself that he was still alive after being put through so much physical and mental stress.

Suddenly, Fang put weight on his right arm, which was on a particular pool of blood, making the metal slick. His arm gave out and he wordlessly collapsed in the shaft. His elbow and head clanged against the side of the shaft, sending a loud noise like the sound of a gong being hit reverberating through the narrow shaft.

The Flock froze in place.

"Tell your idiot boyfriend to watch it, or we're all dog food! Just because they can't see us doesn't mean that this whole godforsaken place is deaf!" Iggy hissed.

Max's scalding glare was, once again, lost on Iggy. He continued on without turning around. It was a good thing that the Flock had an uncanny night vision; otherwise they would only be able to see the vague silhouettes of the person in front of them.

They were all struggling to ascend the incline, which was subtly but steadily rising and growing steeper. Max wanted to turn around to help Fang, but she knew that he wouldn't accept her help, he would silently but stubbornly insist on climbing through the vent himself. Besides, she couldn't turn around in the vent, it was too narrow.

As the incline grew steeper, the Flock internally groaned, desperately hoping that the ascending would end.

After what seemed like an eternity, the incline reached its end and the vent became flat once more. The Flock allowed themselves a very brief rest. No one uttered a word, but they all winced as they heard Fang's breathing. He sounded terrible; his breaths were short gasps that he desperately tried to conceal.

The Flock got up and started to crawl again, but Max noticed that Fang wasn't following her. She craned her neck back as far as the slim vent would allow and saw that he was lying in the vent, not moving. She found that crawling backwards was a difficult task.

"Fang," Max twittered softly in Avian. He struggled to lift his head. He was truly and utterly spent. It was miraculous that he had made it that far; it was a true feat of endurance and strength.

His dark eyes peered at hers. He quickly looked away I shame. If she could have, she would have gently turned his head so that he would be looking at her again.

"Hey." Max said, her voice barely audible, even by bird kid standards. The other bird kids had continued and left without her, but she didn't care. She would follow the sounds of them traveling through the vents.

"Just go on." Fang said, his deep voice vibrating through the vents like the strums of a bass guitar. Max knew what he meant by that. He wanted her to leave him there to die. She wouldn't do that again; never.

"I'm not leaving you behind. I'll go when you do." Max said, her voice carrying a persistent edge to it. Fang would've glared at her, but stared at her tiredly.

His lack of defiance scared her more than his many wounds that were dripping blood and slowly sapping the life out of him.

His eyes were no longer unreadable; it was like he was too tired to guard his emotions; or maybe he wanted to show her what he was feeling rather than saying them aloud. His eyes were sad and so, so weary. Right there in the vent, he looked much older than fifteen. His eyes wore the expression of an old man who'd been worn out by the world and its countless grievances and woes.

He was ready to give up. Max saw that just by looking at him. She never wanted to see that expression on his face ever again and wouldn't let him give up.

"You can rest when we go home. You'll love it there, and you'll rest when I tell you to, so you're going to have to get up and get moving." Max said in her leader voice. Fang saw what went unsaid in her warm brown eyes. It was by what went unspoken that put enough fire in his soul to get him to get up and move forward with a new vigor.

Fang felt a heavy pang of guilt about what he was about to do. He was about to give up on her when she needed him, and the baby… if there even was one. He just couldn't let them down. He had to quit being so selfish. It wasn't about him anymore. He would be there for Max and… his heart raced in his chest and his stomach clenched nauseatingly at the thought of fathering a child. He didn't know the first thing about being a dad. He'd never had one and he'd never even seen one. Jeb didn't count; he was a monster, not a father. Fang would trade his wings to not be a dad. Not now anyways.

He really just hoped that these vents would end soon. His wings were getting cramped and his legs were falling asleep.

Immensely satisfied, Max pushed onward, following the sounds of the Flock, with Fang close behind her.

Angel led the Flock through vent after vent, and the labyrinth of air ducts never seemed to end. A heavy cloud of panic loomed over the Flock. They knew that Angel was leading them towards Dr. Martinez, but they didn't know how they were going to escape the Park. Surely now the whole park knew that the Flock was loose and trying to escape; and now they knew that Max and Fang weren't the only bird-kids trying to escape.

Angel's probing thoughts wandered to the guards guarding the outside exit door. They weren't twenty feet from where Dr. Martinez was hiding in her van. It would look pretty suspicious if she was simply waiting in her van for no apparent reason, especially since Max, Fang, and the rest of the Flock were loose.

After monitoring the guards' thoughts for a minute or so, Angel silently quivered with fear. The guards were calling for backup. The number of guards would triple in mere minutes.

The next thought made Angel freeze. The guards were calling for Erasers. The Flock could probably, given their weaker and injured circumstances, fight off a dozen or so beefy human guards. However, given their circumstances, they could not fight a dozen Erasers. They wouldn't fight and live to tell the tale. They would die before they were dragged back into that horrible place.

Angel doubled the pace, and everyone pushed themselves past their limits to keep up.

There were a few more slipping and sliding incidents, but they were muffled. After what seemed like an eternity of crawling through the hot, sweaty vents, they reached the end. They could see the bright blue sky and feel the fresh air. The only problem was the enormous fan that was whirling at high speed, which was blocking the exit. It whirred loudly, like the roaring of a ferocious beast.

The whole Flock would have groaned if they weren't so tired. They just looked in despair at the machine that would turn them into mincemeat. They heart the ferocious growls of Erasers building and increasing in volume from the outside, and the hope in their chests slowly dimmed until it flickered and died out.

"Wait a minute!" Nudge burst out, unable to keep the exclamation to herself any longer. The Flock craned their already sore necks to catch a glimpse of her. "I think that I can get us through! You know, using my skill!" Nudge said. She didn't bother with whispering, because the loud noise that the fan was making made her voice unnoticeable to non-Avian ears.

"Nudge," Iggy spoke gruffly, still miffed about the whole 'Max and Fang' ordeal. "You've never done anything this big before. You've only done screws and nails and stuff. There's no way that you can handle something this big."

"How do you know? Just let me try first!" Nudge said indignantly. She was fed up with Iggy moping over Max. Angel said that he would be mad and sad for a while, but this was long enough! He just needed to get up, stop moping and move on! Max wasn't the only girl in the world. There would be other girls… like her. She was perfectly available and highly convenient. Unlike Ella, who was destined to live on the ground and be unbearably _human_ her whole life. Why couldn't Iggy see that?

Nudge focused all of her emotion, the good, the bad and the ugly, into slowing the fan down. The trick was to not stop the blade of the deadly fan, but to slow it down and bring it to a gradual stop. Nudge squinted her eyes shut and clenched her fingers in deep concentration. A bead of sweat slowly slid down her coffee toned temple.

Suddenly, the fan began to lose its momentum and started to gradually slow. Angel gasped and Gazzy's mouth was gaping.

Iggy was still stony faced. Nudge could have smacked him and his arrogant dumbness.

Then, the fan came to a complete stop.

"Well, this is it." Iggy said tersely. The howls of the Erasers were even louder due to the fact that the loud fan was now stationary.

"Well, it was nice knowing you." Max said dryly. The Flock was too tense and scared to even register her dark humor. Gazzy's face was a admirable but poor attempt to conceal the fact that he was terrified. Angel looked at everyone wide eyed and scared; not even bothering to try and cover that. Nudge let a few tears fall down her dirtied cheeks. Iggy stared stonily into the general direction of the exit, his sightless eyes glistening with unshed tears in the light. The other kids were too scared to notice.

It was a hassle, but Fang reached towards Max. She glimpsed at him through the corner of her eye and almost smiled as she grasped his calloused and bloodied hand. Both she and Fang stared defiantly at the exit. They knew that they were probably going to die, but they were going to take as many whitecoats as they could with them before they kicked the bucket.

The Flock was grimy faced and doused with a grotesque mix of gore and sweat. Their clothes were torn and stained beyond recognition. Their injuries would have made even the most desensitized nurse fainthearted. They were already tired enough to go into hibernation for six months. They were ravenous enough to put dozens of all-you-can-eat buffets out of business.

Yet, amongst the hopelessness of it all, they all kept a little hope in their souls. They had made it that far, and they had been in worse condition. They knew that they were better off as Eraser food than as prisoners in the wretched School. They would fight for freedom if it used up every ounce of energy in their battle-worn bodies; because no matter how despairing the situation seemed, they always had it in them to fight for what they loved most, their family and freedom.

The Flock glanced at each other wearily. Then, they crawled onwards. The vent widened out after they crawled through the place where the fan usually whirred. The expanse of vent beyond the fan was wide enough to have three scrawny bird kids sit side by side. That was all they needed.

Max had an idea. Angel had read her thoughts, and approved with the idea, so she gave everyone a message to get in a circle. She stayed out of Fang's head, because frankly, his strange, foreign mind scared Angel.

The Flock looked at Angel quizzically, but gathered in a circle. Fang figured out what they were doing, but didn't know how to respond. Max gently guided him to the spot text to her. He looked at her with a stoic face, but his black eyes glittered with curiosity.

Max stuck out her hand in the center of the circle.

"To the Flock, and freedom." Max said. Each and every bird kid managed a genuine smile, except for Fang, who just watched everyone with mild interest. They all stacked their fists on top of hers.

"To the Flock!" they cheered.

"You've got to be louder than that!" Max taunted.

"To Freedom!" they screamed. Their voices rang into the vent. They looked at Fang expectantly. Max told him quickly in Avian what to do. He nodded tersely, and actually smirked as he stacked his palm on top of theirs. Angel beamed and the rest of the Flock grinned, except for Iggy. They officially had a new family member.

Iggy was the first to wrench his hand away, as if he had been burned.

Max crawled to the front, with Fang hobbling closely behind her. Nudge stifled a gasp as she saw how much blood he was losing. Max was better off than Fang, but still in a shabby state.

Max whispered orders in Avian to the rest of the Flock, in case they were being eavesdropped upon someway by enemies and so that she wouldn't have to translate directions for Fang. She put Fang at her right side, with Iggy stationed begrudgingly at her left.

Nudge was right behind Max, with Angel at Nudge's left and Gazzy at Nudge's right. Max, Fang and Iggy would go out first. Fang and Iggy would draw attention and land on the ground, so that they wouldn't be blasted out of the sky by the guns that the whitecoats most definitely possessed. Fang and Iggy would fight on the ground while Max looped around and back into the vent. There she would have Angel and Gazzy grab her hands while Nudge grabbed her ankles as soon as they took off.

Meanwhile, Fang and Iggy would distract the enemies down below while Max took off with the kids. Then they would acquire guns and gun down whatever got in their way. Max highly disliked sinking to the whitecoats level by killing with guns, but they had no alternative. Fang and Iggy would escape as soon as the opportunity arose, the quicker the better.

Max stated firmly that she would use her super-sonic-speed flying skill to take the kids to safety. What she didn't articulate was that she would probably burn up all her energy in the process and perish, but she left that part out. She stated curtly that if something were to happen to her or to anyone, they should go to Dr. Martinez's house, pick up supplies, and head for the house that they had in Colorado. Iggy had discussed this with both Dr. Martinez and the Flock if they were ever found and needed to escape.

The Flock nodded at various times with varying levels of enthusiasm. The only one who didn't look alright with the plan was Fang. He stared at her with her depthless dark eyes and she stared at him right in the eyes for a moment, but shied away. With those dark eyes, he could almost look into a person's inner being. He knew from a glance that she didn't have enough energy to fly at supersonic speed. She'd die.

"Better dead than here again." Max mumbled in Avian so that only Fang could hear her. He glared at her fiercely.

"No." He growled, his chilling tone making the hair stand up on the back of her neck. "_You_ die when _we_ die. You're not getting out of this that easy. Understand?"

Max stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. He'd never outright defied her and given orders… or at least, not like that.

"You don't just," Max started, her temper flaring up at his sheer audacity to try and give her orders like she was some little helpless human female who just took orders without even thinking twice.

"Max," Fang said in a less aggressive, more protective. In spite of the despairing situation they were in, Max couldn't help but notice that she really, truly liked the way that her name sounded coming from his mouth.

"Understand?" he said quietly. His impassive eyes softened for a moment, where she could glimpse at the agony filled, genuinely scared, unselfish teenager behind Fang's powerful, emotionless, quiet and tough demeanor. As quickly as the look into his true emotions came, it was gone again; but Max had seen what she needed to.

She would make him no promises, but she would desperately try to live, even if painful sacrifices were required. Because she saw in that little window to Fang's soul, she saw that the only thing that he ever, truly wanted, was for Max to be safe, preferably with himself by her side.

They all had pretty horrid and miserable lives, but Fang's took the cake for the all-time worst. She wanted him to be truly happy, even if it was only for the moment of his true dying breath. If anyone deserved it, it was him. Max certainly wouldn't let any of the Flock die. No, she would die to protect them, and Fang had to know that. What he was asking was even harder. If Fang were in mortal peril and Max could do something to stop it, killing her instead of Fang, he didn't want her to. Max hoped that the situation never came, but with her luck, it was almost inevitable. She was still internally debating on whether or not she could actually do that, but realized that they had a limited time frame. She slipped the remote that would turn Fang into an Eraser into his hand.

Now Fang was the only one who controlled his mind, his form, and ultimately, his destiny.

"Be careful," Max whispered. "and kill some whitecoats for me."

Fang shot her an extremely rare, devilish grin and kissed her expertly on the mouth.

"Be careful yourself, because if you don't, I'll kill more than some whitecoats…" Fang murmured.

Max's heart fluttered wildly, from the adrenaline of the upcoming battle or from Fang, she couldn't decipher. However, it was most likely from the latter.

In the face of battle, she felt a bit fearful, but mostly, she was filled with so much love for Fang, that she couldn't handle it. She felt like one of Iggy's explosives; about to burst with a bang and smoke and many colors. She never would have guessed that someone could feel this way. Back in those days when she was alone in the Aviatory, she never would have guessed how much more she would feel when Fang shook the foundations of her world.

Never had she been so depressed, so scared, so impatient, so excited, so blissful, and filled with so much infatuation and love. Fang brought so many complications to her world, and she didn't regret it. Not even once.

Max whistled, and they took off soundlessly into the blinding daylight.

Max could have stayed in the vent with the younger kids and just skipped to the warp speed escape part of the plan, but Max wanted to see what they were up against.

She partially wished that she hadn't. There were dozens of Erasers at the ground, snapping and snarling. If only the cops could see this, all these savage mutants free from the Freak Fest… The park would be closed before the Flock would have a chance to cheer. A dozen or so security guards were armed with small, handheld pistols. Max spotted quite a few whitecoats in the mess of fur and skin, shouting frantic orders in a hopeless attempt to keep the situation under control.

Max, Fang, and Iggy had taken them by surprise, so the firing from the guards was off target and erratic, missing them by a mile. The sound of gunshots was enough to send the bird kids' hearts racing and the adrenaline filling their bodies.

Fang and Iggy dived down towards the swarming mass of enemies, and they were soon swallowed into the crowd of flying fists and kicks.

Most people would wonder about the usefulness that Iggy and Fang were providing, since there were two of them in a sea of Erasers, whitecoats, and security guards, when the enemies knew that Max was in the vent. Max was the main target, but Fang and Iggy were providing an excellent distraction; just enough for Max and the others to escape. It would be hard for the gunmen to focus on Max's flying form when they were getting a fist in the face.

Max swerved into the vent again just as soon as the whitecoats had regrouped and began to aim more precise. A bullet whizzed past her wing and cut a painless but alarming furrow into one of her primary feathers.

"Now!" Max barked out to the kinds, though not unkindly. In a flash, Gazzy and Angel had latched themselves securely to Max's arms and Nudge had a firm grip of Max's ankles.

Without warning, Max leapt from the vent and before she even pushed her wings into a down-stroke, she accelerated at the speed of a rocket.

Their eyes watered as the landscape below them became blurred and indistinguishable at the speed. Max increased in altitude. After thirty seconds or so, Max braked. They were a few miles above ground level and were above Dr. Martinez's property.

"Everybody okay?" Max managed. Her chest was heaving and sweat poured down her face. Her wing strokes were shaky and off-beat. She desperately hid all signs of weakness to the best of her ability.

The Flock nodded. They let go of Max and unfurled their own wings.

Nudge and Angel appeared to be a bit shaken up. Nudge was unsteady because of her naivety to traveling at warp speed. Nudge was also slightly distraught at the condition of her hair which closely resembled a large caramel colored cloud of cotton candy. Nudge had also noticed, with great distress, that her new clothes that Dr. Martinez had gotten for her were now filthy and torn hopelessly. She looked like she wasn't even remotely hygienic.

Angel was worried for Max, who wouldn't make it back to the city in her state. She knew that Max would be determined to go back and Help Fang and Iggy escape. She would fight for Fang until she fell out of the sky. If she did this, however, Fang would be lost and forlorn, and in summary, it would be a huge disaster.

Gazzy, on the other hand, looked ecstatic.

"That is so _cool_!" Gazzy crowed excitedly, his spiky blond hair looking wilder than usual. "We were going faster than a jet! I wish I could do that! I want to go again!"

"Gazzy," Angel chided quietly. Max was having trouble focusing. She was even having trouble stringing words together to form sentences.

"You guys… get your stuff….I'm gonna…Fang. Don't…answer the door. If I'm not back…you know where to go." Max managed, panting heavily. She turned, randomly dropping and gaining altitude due to her unsteady wing beats.

"Max, wait!" Angel yelped. She had seen what was coming, but it was too late.

Max thrust her wings down once, then twice, then fell unconscious. She was truly and utterly spent. Even with Max's incredible and awe inspiring perseverance, toughness, and stubbornness, she still was mortal. She succumbed to exhaustion, and as they dived down to save Max's falling, limp form, they prayed to every deity that they'd ever heard of that Max wasn't dead.

XOXO

Meanwhile, over in the Freak Fest parking lot, Fang and Iggy were fighting as efficiently as a well-oiled machine. In the face of death and adversaries, they seemed to have forgotten their rivalry and were working together to take down twice as many foes.

Fang gave Iggy directions in Avian, and Iggy followed through without thought. Since the instructions and communications were in a language unknown to the humans and the Erasers, they had an advantage of surprise, and they used it to their full advantage.

Fang and Iggy were fighting back to back, Erasers and security guards mobbing them, while the nerdy whitecoats cowered away from the fighting, giving feeble orders.

"To your left!" Fang ground out at Iggy as he gave a marvelously executed roundhouse kick to an oncoming Eraser, who gave one last whimper as its neck snapped. The Eraser became still and its brethren shoved it aside, eagerly awaiting their turn to fight.

Fang wished, with a little part of his inner being, that he could morph into an Eraser, that way he could kill his foes easier, because his own strength would surpass their own. However, he was unable to for several reasons. One, he would not be able to give Iggy instructions, because he couldn't speak Avian as an Eraser, because an Eraser's vocal chords were not built to speak the flowing, light language of Avian. Secondly, he did not possess enough energy to morph. He would burn out most definitely if he tried.

Iggy rapidly executed a flawless right hook, uppercut, and left hook in rapid succession to a particularly beefy guard. The guard slumped down, but was shoved aside before his face could touch the ground.

"Front and center!" Fang barked. A guard shoved towards Iggy, armed with a pistol. Iggy heard the click of the gun's safety being turned off and deftly swiped it from the guard. Iggy kicked the guy below the belt and landed a left hook to the guard's face.

Fang was fighting a guard when an Eraser with a strangely mad gleam in his eyes approached Fang from the right side. Before Fang could turn, the Erasers slashed savagely at Fang's exposed side with its ragged and razor sharp claws.

Fang's teeth gritted in pain as the claws left large bloody gashes in his side. He abruptly snapped the Eraser's neck in his powerful arms.

"Take out their weapons. We're getting out of here." Fang said in a low voice.

"How will we do that, exactly?" Iggy growled as he cracked a few of an Eraser's ribs with a high kick.

"You listen for the clicking sound that they make before they are about to shoot. I'll take out as many as I can." Fang said. Iggy was slightly shocked at the length of Fang's sentences, but was almost whacked unconscious by the elbow of a guard. Iggy attacked every guard that he could sense with a gun, smashing the gun into metallic splinters on the pavement.

Fang acted similarly. He had a plan forming in his head. As soon as the guns were gone, he and Iggy could take off.

An Erasers savagely punched Fang where the wound in his side was. It began to gush blood more profusely. The pain was so incredible, that Fang let out an involuntary yelp.

Iggy's head tilted in Fang's direction. He had heard Fang's cry of pain, and it had startled him. But Iggy had also heard another noise. A familiar voice.

"Iggy! Over here!" A voice shouted from over where the cars were parked. "Follow the sound of my voice! Get into the van! I'll get you out of here!" Iggy then knew what to do. The voice was Dr. Martinez in the van. Even amongst the loud sounds of the brawl, Iggy's highly attuned ears could make out Dr. Martinez's frantic voice.

Iggy quickly fought his way through the crowd and towards Fang. Iggy could smell the immense amount of blood that Fang was losing. He knew that it was very bad.

"Follow me." Iggy barked at Fang. Fang looked at him with a slightly questioning noise, but did what he was told. He was getting very dizzy.

Fang followed Iggy's blurry form. They broke free of the mob of Erasers and guards. They ran as fast as only bird-kids can run. Dr. Martinez had the van's door open. The whitecoats were too busy trying to rally up the escapees that they didn't bother to question her presence there.

Iggy leapt into the van, with Fang close behind. Dr. Martinez peeled out of there, the tires emitting smoke and a loud squeal. Iggy slid the still open door shut as bullets panged off the side of the van. Dr. Martinez shot at the exit gate at a maniac speed.

"Hold on!" Dr. Martinez shouted. Iggy grabbed an armrest. He wondered how Fang was, who he couldn't resent too much, because Fang had saved Iggy's life too many times to count in the battle.

Fang was lying across two seats, curled up and unmoving. He was clutching his side, which was still bleeding profusely and staining the seat with crimson.

Dr. Martinez didn't stop or even slow down at the closed iron exit gate. She braced herself and drove right through the gate which clanged open with the force. Everyone took a sudden jolt.

"Dr. Martinez," Iggy said quietly.

"Yeah?" she answered, a little in shock over what she had just done. She had just rivaled a car stunt in a movie.

"I don't mean to be a downer, but I think that Fang is dying." Iggy answered. He reached over and found Fang's neck. He searched for a pulse.

"There's a pulse, isn't there?" Dr. Martinez said, slightly hysterical. She couldn't let Max come out of there without Fang. Not again.

"There is one. But it's faint. He was scratched. He's losing too much blood." Iggy said. Dr. Martinez glanced in the side view mirror.

"Iggy," Dr. Martinez said in a slightly scared voice.

"Yes?" he said.

"We're on the dirt road that leads to my house. You're going to have to drive. Just like we practiced. I'm going to have to give Fang stitches before he bleeds out."

**Well, I made that extra-long as an apology for the tardiness. 5,823 words, actually. I hope that I can be forgiven. If you can't that's okay. I Don't blame you. If you can find it in your hearts, please, please, please review. Happy New Year. **


	24. Homemade ER

**Hey guys! I figured that now was the best time to tell you, since it's the New Year, new beginnings, etc. However, I have changed my penname to The Wolf Who Walks Alone. So, do not be confused, I rarely change my penname, and I'm sure that this will be the last time I do so. Thank you for understanding, and remember, I am now The Wolf Who Walks Alone. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride… or Harry Potter… or any published works… Do I really have to put this on EVERY chapter?**

Max plummeted towards the ground like a mighty eagle that had been shot from the sky by a poacher. She streaked at the ground, with her wings half-unfurled; causing her to twirl and spin at a dizzying speed.

Thinking fast, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel dived towards their falling friend. Gazzy hoisted Max up by her left arm and Nudge snagged her left arm in midair. Angel grabbed Max's feet. The tired trio hauled Max back dutifully to Dr. Martinez's house below them.

It was a Saturday, verging on nightfall, so Ella would be home. Dr. Martinez made sure that Ella didn't have any plans to go out with friends in case something was to happen and someone needed help. Ella, thankfully, had picked up on Dr. Martinez's medical nomenclature and skills over the years and could medically aid someone if necessary. If it wasn't serious, that is.

Nudge, Gazzy and Angel descended slowly and gently, to avoid further damage. They all were injured a fair bit, but Max was injured the most. Max had a hastily bandaged broken arm, which had been unraveled and jarred out of place by all the crawling and fighting. Max had a black eye that had swelled shut and numerous fair sized cuts and bruises on her abdomen, arms, legs, and face. Her knees, forearms, elbows and feet, which here bare were covered in new and dried blood, from the day's events. In fact, Max was soaked with blood and shrouded with grime from the unclean vents. The whitecoat scrubs that she was wearing, which were made of thin, flimsy, cloth, were torn and ripped almost to indecency from the brawl and the sheer force of the warp-speed flight. There were even a few noticeable bullet holes in Max's apparel. A few feathers were painfully wrenched from Max's wings and she had to be terribly sore all over from all the exertion that she had endured. To top it all off, Max was still aching a bit and was mentally and emotionally abused from losing her virginity to Fang without either of their consent.

Angel, Gazzy and Nudge had a few noticeable bumps and bruises, but nothing too serious.

Angel stood behind Max, in case her weight became too much for Gazzy and Nudge. They gently carried Max up to the porch, with her strong-but-still-feminine arms draped over their shoulders.

Despite her extreme light weight, it was hard for Gazzy, Nudge and Angel to keep Max aloft, so they were grateful when they put her down on the porch swing. Nudge dug the spare key out from under a loose floorboard; right where Dr. Martinez had said it was.

Nudge rushed over to the door and jammed the key into the keyhole. She quickly turned it and yanked the door open.

She then helped Gazzy and Angel lug the unconscious and dead-looking Max into the house. Ella kicked the door shut behind her and locked it. Locks wouldn't stop whitecoats or Erasers, but she didn't want to make it easy for them.

Nudge opened the cupboard under the stirs and opened the door to the secret room, where the Flock had been staying. The false wall slid to the side like a sliding glass door.

"Hurry with the door, Nudge! She's heavier than she looks!" Gazzy grunted. Carrying Max's dead weight upright was no fun, even for a super-strong bird kid.

"I'm hurrying!" Nudge shot back. She took the majority of Max's weight while Gazzy grabbed the rest. They carried max down the stairs. Ella closed the cupboard door from the inside, and then walked into the secret part of the house, where she slid the false wall back into place. Now, it would be impossible for the whitecoats to find the secret room, unless they already knew where it was.

Angel stumbled down the stairs. Her legs were too wobbly to descend the stairs properly; partially from exhaustion, partially from the loads of adrenaline still throbbing in her veins, but mostly from the cold sense of fear that was shrouding her like a dark cloak. Angel was a mind-reader, and from the looks of Max's thoughts, she was in awful shape.

Ella looked at Max with a worried expression. She looked terrible! Ella had seen a lot of gruesome injuries on the medical channel though, and was prepared to help Max to the best of her ability.

Nudge and Gazzy had laid Max down on the bed in the girl's room, mostly because she was leading at the time and didn't step foot into the boy's room on sheer principle.

Gazzy was really too upset and worried about Max to even think about the fact that he was breaking one of the few but major rules in the Flock; "Boys don't go in the girls' room and girls don't go into the boys' room". At the moment, it was an exception to the rule anyways.

"Gazzy, go get Max a bottle of water and some chips from the mini-fridge upstairs, okay?" Nudge said, keeping the panic out of her voice. She checked the pulse in Max's neck with her index finger, just like Iggy had taught her. She remembered the moment with a brief snippet of happiness, when life wasn't quite so complicated. It was after Anne had died, but before they left to find Max at the Freak Fest.

_It was a bright, sunny day back at the 'E' shaped house in Colorado. The sun shone through the many glass windows, and the crisp, mountain air kept the days from getting too warm. The scent of fresh pine trees penetrated every inch of the house because of the seemingly endless forest of pine trees wrapping around the mountain below them. They really were, living at the top of a mountain, with the whole world around them. _

_They were safe. No roads were near them for miles, not even unpaved dirt or hiking trails. _

_Nudge and Iggy were in the field in the backyard of the house. Iggy was lying on the grass staring with his sightless light blue eyes at the sky he had never and would never see. _

_Nudge sat cross-legged beside him, looking at his placid expression. Even then, she held him in higher esteem than any other member of the Flock. She knew that she could really be a pain in the you-know-what sometimes, but Iggy put up with it anyways. She deeply admired him for it. She loved him…. Maybe in a different way than she loved the rest of the Flock. _

_The grass was a vivid and lively green, the essence of springtime. It probed softly at the loose fabric of Iggy's slightly worn gray t-shirt. His jeans were ripped and faded, but to Nudge, the Flock's resident fashion expert, the simple-but-used look really worked for Iggy. A slightly warm breeze ruffled Iggy's reddish blond rugged bangs. Nudge swore that time stopped at that moment, and she would never forget it. _

_Her corkscrew brown curls swayed in the breeze for a second. _

"_Iggy?" Nudge asked. She plucked a piece of soft mountain grass from the ground and twirled it between her fingers. _

"_Hmm?" He said. He was mentally preparing from Nudge to fill the sweet silence with her mindless prattling. Meaning, he was preparing to either sleep or zone out. _

_For once in her short, scary, strange life, Nudge had no idea what to say next. The moment was golden, and she didn't really want to ruin it, just make it better. She had to say the right thing. _

_There were plenty of things that she wanted to say. That how she really liked what a great leader he was, how upset she was over losing Anne, how she hated being a bird-kid sometimes, how she really wanted a mom and a boyfriend and a dad, how she hated the stupid School for doing it for them in the first place, how they would have to go to raid a Quickmart somewhere, because they were almost out of food and Anne was gone, so they could no longer pay for food. That was just at the top of the list. But then, a strange thought appeared in her head, but it was like it had been there all along, she just hadn't noticed it before. _

_She had an urge to tell Iggy that she loved him. Not really like a brother. Not really like a friend. Not even like a dad. Like something that she had never felt before. Maybe, like a boyfriend. This is why she needed a mom or a big sister; so that she had someone to help her make sense of all these confusing new thoughts and feelings._

"_I, uh…" Nudge stammered. Iggy gave her a lazy half smile. "What, is the great Chatterbox finally at a loss for words? The world _must_ be ending." _

_Nudge's cheeks felt hot. Was she… blushing? Where did that come from. She felt that she had to tell him that she liked him. A lot. Right now, and like a true chatterbox, Nudge couldn't help but oblige. _

"_I love you, Iggy." Nudge blurted. She covered her mouth, instantly regretting speaking for a change. _

_It was quiet for a second. Nudge was terrified that her big mouth just alienated her from Iggy, all because of her lack of tactics. _

_Instead, Iggy gave her a smile. A brotherly smile. Nudge felt an uncomfortable lump form in her throat. _

"_I love you too, Nudge." Before Nudge could stammer in shock, Iggy added to his previous statement. "You're the closest thing that I'll ever have to a sister, and a best friend, Nudge. I'm really glad that out of all the other kids that could've ended up as a bird-kid, I'm glad that I was with you. I mean, I totally wish that none of us had to ever get taken to that godforsaken place at all, but…. You know what I mean. Jeez, your motormouth-ness is rubbing off on me." Iggy said._

_Nudge managed a smile, even though Iggy couldn't see it. What he had said was extremely sweet, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear, and was slightly disappointed. _

"_Could you teach me how to take a pulse? Because I need to know. I mean, what if something happened and you were gone? What if," Nudge babbled. She wanted to cover up her disappointment as quickly as possible. She didn't want to drive Iggy away. Really, he meant well. _

_Iggy chuckled, the sound echoing through the mountainside. _

"_Sure Nudge." Iggy said; and he did. _

Nudge was quickly slapped in the face by the killjoy named reality. Angel stifled a sniff as she disappeared into the closet of the room and dug out one of the Flock's old beat up backpacks. She scrambled to open it and ripped a large and quite extensive first-aid kit from its depths.

First-Aid kit: a necessity for life with the Flock; the bigger the better. Angel brought the first aid kit over to Nudge, who opened it and brought out the gauze and antiseptic.

"Angel, go get some washcloths and a bucket of hot water please. A towel would be nice too." Nudge said tensely. Angel passed Gazzy as she bolted through the door and into the vacant bathroom in the hallway. They shared a worried look during the brief moment that they met eyes. Gazzy took a large jug of water and an economy size bag of potato chips over to the bedside. Ella stood sadly by Nudge.

The scrubs that Max was wearing were torn and filthy and concealing the injuries that lay underneath.

"We'll have to take her clothes off. And clean her up before was can start anything. The least we can do is to disinfect her wounds." Ella said quietly.

"Gazzy, I'm uh… I'm going to have to take off her clothes. So you're gonna gave to…" Nudge said awkwardly.

Gazzy's cheeks turned scarlet.

"I'll, ummm… just let me know if I can do anything." Gazzy said over his shoulder as he bolted out of the room. Nudge almost smiled.

Angel came back to the bedside, lugging a bucket of water that sloshed over the sides a bit with every step. Steam billowed from the rim of the bucket. She had stacks of towels and washcloths pinned under each of her arms, and even a few under her chin.

She dropped the pristine white towels in an unruly pile on the floor and set the bucket of steaming water next to them.

"Is that hot enough?" Angel asked as she anxiously peered over at Max's motionless body on the mattress.

Nudge had ripped the sheets and bedclothes off of the mattress, so that they wouldn't stain Dr. Martinez's nice bedspread. They left the pillows on the bed, so that Max's head could be propped up comfortably.

Nudge took a pair of shears from the first-aid kit. Now, most people don't have shears in their first aid kit, but most people didn't have to fight whitecoats, Erasers, or get into ninety-nine percent of the situations that the Flock got into. Consequently, the Flock had a very large, unusual, and untraditional first-aid kit.

Nudge cut the filthy remnants of the scrubs off of Max's broken body and threw the nasty scraps into a plastic trashcan by the foot of the bed.

Max lay bare and bleeding; her crimson blood staining the virgin white mattress. Max was covered with too much blood to honestly decipher where the cuts were.

"Angel and Ella, grab a washcloth and help me clean her up." Nudge ordered, trying to sound as put-together as Iggy or Max did. Iggy and Max were currently incapable of giving orders, which left Nudge in charge, and she didn't want to let Iggy or Max down. She had to be a good temporary leader, but she somehow knew that she would never make a leader as good as Iggy or Max. She wasn't cut out to be leader-tough, the smartest, or give orders on little-to-no notice.

Angel's curls bobbed up and down like blond spring coils as she nodded and took a clean washcloth and dipped it into the bucket. Ella reverently did the same. They grimaced at the scalding heat, but gritted their teeth and began the task of scrubbing Max clean of grime and dried blood.

After Max was sufficiently cleaned, then they could see where her real injuries were. Plus, it would keep the filth from further infecting the wound and spreading disease. Nudge poured some anesthetic into the boiling hot water, to clean the wounds as she went. There wasn't have enough time to do it separately. The once white towels were stained with black grime and blood.

Max's bare body was sufficiently cleaned, but she could still use a good soak in a hot bath with scented soaps after the injury repair was completed.

Nudge glanced to check how Max's breathing was. Nudge's heart raced in fear.

Max's breathing was shallow and irregular, and sounded a bit more like a wheeze than anything else.

Nudge grabbed the bottle of water that Gazzy had brought down, not sure about what to do next. She was thinking that maybe the mechanical, even act of swallowing water would not only even Max's breathing, but it would get her hydrated too.

She uncertainly pried Max's mouth open and asked Ell a to pinch her nose at the proper moment. Nudge poured a crystalline stream of water into Max's open mouth and Nudge nodded towards Ella, who pinched Max's nose. Reflexively, Max swallowed the mouthful of water.

Nudge grabbed the gauze next while Angel was given the task of force-feeding the unconscious Max water at regular intervals.

Max had a number of cuts and scrapes. The shallower ones, Nudge used gauze and antithetic gel to bind the wounds shut, away from the germs in the air that may intoxicate the open wounds. Nudge was particularly disgusted with the 'U' shaped puncture marks in Max's lean side, where an Eraser had bitten her. They were slowly oozing dark blood, and Nudge applied an extra helping of healing ointment on that particular wound; the sooner that it stopped bleeding, the better.

Ella took Max's other side, and began to apply band aids, antistethic ointment, and gauze to Max's wounds there

The deeper gashes in Max's body, and there were many of those, were much more trouble. Nudge had gotten into a few situations in her past that required stitches. Since it would be a disaster to make a trip to the hospital for obvious reasons, she had resorted to getting homemade stitches.

Despite her seemingly girly demeanor, Nudge was very tough and immune in a way to blood and gore. She had been raised around it and was taught to be tough. She couldn't be squeamish when it came to blood, since she saw plenty of it on a daily basis.

Nudge pulled a spool of fishing line and a thick needle from the bag and mentally recalled the many memories of the stitches that had been administered amongst the Flock.

Ella stared openmouthed at Nudge, who ignored her.

Nudge's hand wavered as she prepared to stitch a large gash in Max's arm together. She gritted her teeth, and prayed that she didn't faint. Then Max would surely die.

XOXO

Dr. Martinez unintentionally let out a particularly exasperated sigh as the van flew down the old dirt road. The road that maintenance forgot was riddled with potholes. The drive was unruly as it was; so having a blind, untrained fifteen year old drive down the road at eighty miles per hour while trying to administer stitches to a second dying fifteen year old was quite a challenge.

Bullets of sweat were pouring down both Iggy and Dr. Martinez's faces as they tore down the long road that lead to Dr. Martinez's house, even though the air conditioning was blasting cold air at its top setting.

Iggy's sightless eyes darted wildly around, yearning to see the road ahead of him. He hit a particularly large pothole at top speed and Dr. Martinez let out a loud yelp.

Dr. Martinez was attempting to stitch up the large jagged claw marks in Fang's abdomen left by the Eraser. Dr. Martinez silently noted that a normal human would have either died from pain, exhaustion or blood loss at this point; so either Fang's healing abilities were incredibly fast, even for a bird kid, or he was hell-bent on staying alive.

Then, Fang's liquid-like black eyes opened into tired slits. His mouth was barely moving, and his mumblings were inaudible and undecipherable to the human ear. He was murmuring in Avian.

Iggy was really stressed while attempting to drive, despite the practice lessons with Dr. Martinez. He had never been under pressure quite like this before. His inability to see was a hindrance to himself, but he always tried as hard as he could not to make his weakness a weapon that his enemy could use against him. He always found clever loopholes to make up for his lack of sight. He used his other senses to guide him.

Now, Iggy could use none of that. The car was loud and there was no way that any of his other senses could compensate for sight. His life, Dr. Martinez's life, The Flock's life, Fang's life… were more or less in his hands. Maybe the Flock would survive without him. He'd taught Nudge to be a good leader. Iggy was desperately worried about Max though. She was in very rough shape. She might not make the rushed flight without some kind of professional medical attention, which only Dr. Martinez could provide. Hospitals were always out of the question.

Iggy's worries were overwhelming, to put it mildly.

Dr. Martinez was perplexed by the job at hand, and still appalled. It was difficult to give a dying patient medical treatment in the back of a bumpy van. It didn't help that his body was so filthy and covered in blood, to make it difficult, but not impossible to find the deepest wounds that she would have to sew together. Amongst the dirt and grime, she could see remnants of appalling injuries, some from years past and some were inflicted upon him during the months that he was imprisoned at Freak Fest. She noticed his muttering, and decided to take note of it.

"Iggy, I hate to interrupt, but do you know what he's saying?" Dr. Martinez said. Iggy gritted his teeth from strain and analyzed the stains of Avian that was being spoken, barely above a whisper.

Dr. Martinez quickly wiped the gash down with antithetic, then began to sew the wound shut. She had successfully closed two open wounds to Fang's abdomen when Iggy finally spoke up from the driver's seat.

"He keeps apologizing to… to Max. He doesn't want to leave her or…" Iggy gritted his teeth even harder, but not from stress but pain, and a little resentment.

"Iggy?" Dr. Martinez asked in a strained voice. She was in the middle of stitching the third long gash in Fang's chest.

"The baby. If there is one." Iggy stated flatly, attempting to keep his opinions to himself for now. Since Fang was dying in the backseat and it was stressful without Iggy lamenting on the unfairness of the world.

Dr. Martinez dropped her needle. She stammered ncoheretly.

"The... the what?" she managed. Her left hand was shaking a little bit. Iggy could detect the shock in her voice, and his knuckles clenched harder than necessary on the steering wheel.

"Max… and her baby. There might not be one though. I'll explain later." Iggy said, the misery leaking into his voice.

"Max? She can't have a baby! She's only fifteen! She knows... she never… Oh, God… oh God…" Dr. Martinez whispered. Iggy heard her, and it only fueled his despair. There was less anger, and more broken heartedness taking over his emotions.

"Iggy," Dr. Martinez said in a voice shriller than usual. Her tanned face had gone deathly pale. "You have to tell me what you know. What did Max tell you; about what happened when they captured her? She wasn't…" Dr. Martinez said, her voice breaking off at the end of the unfinished sentence.

Iggy stiffened.

"I'll explain what Max told me later." He said, trying to keep his own emotions in check. He'd had a completely stressful and heartbreaking day, and his nerves were fried. He was ready to crack, but his pride wouldn't allow it.

"Please, Iggy. It's better now than when the younger kids could overhear." Dr. Martinez pleaded. Now she was truly frightened. A whirlwind of horrible images swirled in her brain, like Max being raped without a caring soul to aid her, Jeb injecting Max with a needle with Max shrieking and thrashing as she was pinned down to a silver metallic operating table, Max being beaten and abused in all sorts of painful ways then being raped by… the pieces suddenly formed one picture that could be true. Jeb wanted a pureblood baby Avian-human hybrid. There was only one male bird kid who he had at his disposal.

Dr. Martinez's eyes shifted to Fang, who lay helplessly on the table. The one who had possibly gotten Max, her all-but-blood daughter pregnant… maybe even by force. Dr. Martinez scowled. Maybe she could just let nature take its course with Fang. If he'd hurt Max. He'd almost killed Max once. He was stronger, a lot stronger than Max, despite her protests. He could've easily overwhelmed her and taken advantage of her. It would be justice, if she just let Fang die. She could tell Max that his injuries overwhelmed him. And if Max was pregnant with Fang's baby… Iggy… Iggy would be a good dad to it. He cared about Max. The whole Flock would care for Max and the baby. Fang could easily be taken out of the picture. All that she had to was to let the life slowly drift out of him.

Dr. Martinez shuddered. What was she thinking? Fang was more likely just as much as a victim as Max was. Fang wasn't a dumb animal, and all sorts of things could have happened. Jeb was disgustingly creative when it came to plots of that sort. Dr. Martinez had seen Fang become caring, protective, maybe even loving of Max. Dr. Martinez was even surer, the more that she thought about it, that Fang would never do something horrible to Max. There had to be something else..

"They were drugged." Iggy said flatly. "Fang and Max were given some kind of drug that forced them to… you know. They don't remember any of it. Max had figured out what happened though."

Dr. Martinez sat there unmoving; frozen with shock.

"Yeah, it was all really romantic." Iggy muttered darkly.

He glared into the backseat in Fang's general direction. He didn't have to keep his eyes on the road. He was blind, after all. It didn't really make a difference. The sudden flash of resentment towards Fang passed as quickly as it came and Iggy sighed deeply and drove on in silence. A few more seconds, and he'd have to slow down for the sharp turn into the Martinez's long driveway.

"When do I turn?" Iggy asked quietly. A bit of sweat beaded on his forehead. The whole 'turning' process was a work in progress for him. He'd probably never drive again after this day.

Dr. Martinez jerked into reality once more. Her deep brown eyes were full of hurt, a bit of fear and deep regret. She could do nothing to save Max from her fate of becoming a mother. She prayed to every deity and spirit that she'd ever heard of that Max would not be pregnant.

She glanced at the dirt road and saw that the turn was in twenty feet.

"Iggy! Slow down! I'll tell you when to turn!" Dr. Martinez said, successfully keeping panic out of her voice. If she freaked out, Iggy would too, then they would certainly crash and they'd all be dead.

Fang's heartbeat was becoming erratic. He'd lost too much blood. His tanned skin was glistening with sweat and his breathing was fast and shallow. Dr. Martinez had done an acceptable but not perfect or pretty job on his stitches, but they were sufficiently keeping his remaining blood inside of his body. She grimaced at his deplorable state. The stitches looked sloppy; definitely not as pleasant as her usual standard.

The van had slowed down considerably, but not quite slow enough.

"Turn!" barked Dr. Martinez. Iggy gritted his teeth as he jerked the wheel to the side. The van tipped over to the side, driving precariously on the two wheels on the right side. An enormous cloud of red dust enveloped the dark blue van. Dr. Martinez let out a shriek, which she immediately stifled with a free hand. She quickly removed her hand from her face, which was dark with Fang's blood. Great, now she probably looked like an Eraser, who feasted on raw, bloody meat. She shuddered, the mere thought of those demented savages turning her stomach sickeningly.

The van fell back onto all four of its wheels, producing a jolt that made everyone and everything in the van fly up into the air then fall unceremoniously back into its place. Fang made a noise in the back of his throat, an odd cross between a growl of irritation and a yelp of agony.

Dr. Martinez looked at him worriedly. He acted more canine that avian. She then grimaced. He _was _part Eraser now. Two percent avian, fifty percent lupine, and forty-eight percent human. Now, he was more animal than human. Actually, Dr. Martinez wasn't exactly sure how much lupine DNA they infused in Fang. His DNA did embrace the lupine DNA instead of rejecting it, but the quantity that the whitecoats put in him was a mystery that she was probably never going to figure out.

The car's breaks squealed as they careened to a halt a mere feet from the front porch. Iggy sat stiffly in the front seat; gripping the steering wheel so fiercely that his pale knuckles turned deathly white.

Dr. Martinez slammed the van door open with a loud bang. She knew that Fang was light due to his avian build, but when she lifted him out of the backseat, she was reminded that Fang was very underweight.

She leapt out of the van and raced up the stairs, Fang lying limp between her arms. Dr. Martinez's heart raced with terror. Fang would die if he didn't receive blood, right then, and he required at least six experienced hands to attend to him in time. Dr. Martinez knew that as soon as she entered the door, she would have to attend to Max as well.

Dr. Martinez needed a lot of medical equipment, but she didn't have any in her possession. All of the medical equipment that she used was at Freak Fest, and she would never go back there. The only other place that would have the necessary equipment was the hospital, and it would be as bad as walking into Jeb's open arms if she went there. He had connections everywhere as it was, and now he probably had choppers and his men everywhere looking for them. Dr. Martinez knew that it would be an hour tops before they came to her house. Jeb would look through her files first, and see on her early resume her current address. Then it would take them another fifteen minutes to get to her house.

"Iggy, come on!" Dr. Martinez shouted over her shoulder as she wriggled her key out of her pocket. She had to toss Fang over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes to do so. She wedged the key into the lock and yanked the door open. Iggy followed her as they hurried into the house.

She quickly made their way into the annex and closed the door behind them, taking extra care to leave it as it was. That way, when Jeb came to her house with a hoard of his beefy bodyguards, it would take them a long, long time to find them. If they found them at all. Which was unlikely, because of the obscure place where the annex was hidden.

Dr. Martinez rushed down the stairs in the annex. Iggy grabbed a few bottles of water from the mini fridge and some granola bars. He had already scarfed down three granola bars by the time he had reached the base of the stairs.

He swigged the water bottle as well. Dr. Martinez carried Fang and laid him out on the bed next to Max. Since she had to attend to both of them virtually at the same time, she bent the whole 'no boys in the girls' room and visa-versa' rule.

The Flock that remained standing quickly gave Iggy a group hug, which startled him at first, but he wrapped his arms around them almost immediately. They all turned their grave attention back towards Max and now Fang. Nudge stifled a gasp as she saw Fang's gruesome wounds. The mediocre stitching job made the wounds appear even worse. Fang now had a bloodless skin tone, making his raven hair stand out drastically.

Ella bit her lip from letting her mouth gape. She saw the terribly, horrid wounds that had been inflicted on Fang, but couldn't help but notice that he was an extremely handsome guy, who she'd never seen in person until now. Fang let out a weak chirp and her heart jumped into her throat, reminding her that he definitely wasn't human.

"Is there anything we can do?" Angel asked timidly. She knew that Dr. Martinez had a grim conclusion that Fang was most likely going to die without a blood transfusion, and she lacked the proper equipment. She had no blood bags, no proper cleansing utensils, no spare needles, no anything. Angel felt Fang's life fading away; his strange, foreign thoughts slowing down and dimming.

Dr. Martinez looked at Max and saw that she had lost a lot of blood, but not enough to require a blood transfusion. She saw the stitching job, courtesy of Nudge.

Dr. Martinez noticed that Max was nude, because she had injuries everywhere that were being attended to by Nudge, Ella and Angel. Fang was unconscious, Iggy was blind, and Gazzy was nowhere to be found. The girls had kept him out of there.

"Nudge, thank you for attending to Max, and you can put some pajama shorts on her now. You can also get a towel and cover the necessities on her upper body as well. Dr. Martinez noticed that out of the corner of her eye, Iggy's ears had turned a cute shade of pink. He had picked up that Max wasn't wearing anything. Dr. Martinez smiled faintly at his modesty.

"Once you get Max sufficiently covered, tell Gazzy that he can come in, and bring a bottle of water. You're going to have to pour some water down his throat. Make sure that he swallows it." Dr. Martinez said as she stitched and disinfected some of Fang's other deep cuts.

"Also, get some yogurt or applesauce; something easy to swallow and bring lots of it. He's starved and won't wake up without that energy." Dr. Martinez ordered. Angel raced upstairs.

"Ella, give Max some painkillers from my bag. Give Fang some as well. I'm also going to need you to stretch his wings out, gently, mind you. Check for breaks and fractures. Use gauze and tape to set them." Dr. Martinez. Ella gathered her supplies and began administering the drugs.

"Iggy, dab Max's forehead and Make sure that she doesn't get overheated. Use a cool washcloth and wipe her face off." Dr. Martinez said. She now was using the stethoscope to listen to Fang's heartbeat, making sure that it was beating properly. She had listened to Max's heart long enough to know what an Avian-human's heartbeat should sound like.

Nudge had gathered a medium, soft towel and covered Max's breasts with it. She then slid the pajama shorts on Max's legs, not at all embarrassed. She was a teenager now, and the situation was far too serious for that sort of childish thinking.

Nudge whistled and Gazzy ran into the room with his arms full of water bottles and cups of yogurt and put them all on the nightstand in between the two beds. Angel came in with some towels, washcloths, and a fresh pail of hot water.

Gazzy was assigned to wiping Fang's body off. Angel was assigned to hydrate and see if she could get Fang to swallow some yogurt. She tried using her mental telepathic powers to order Fang to swallow, but he was barely clinging to life, so she had to pinch his nose to make him swallow.

Ella had stretched one of Fang's wings out, the mere sight of his magnificent wings stealing the very breath from her lungs. There were a few fractures in his wing, which had to be opened only halfway, due to its enormity. Ella bound the broken spots tightly, but not too tightly.

Nudge was multitasking. She was pouring small doses of yogurt into Max's mouth, making her swallow it, and helping Iggy with his wounds as well. She set his nose and taped it in place. Iggy gave her a small smile, and it was like giving Nudge an extra-caffeinated, high energy drink.

Dr. Martinez was moving back and forth in between Max and Fang, frantically trying to asses to each of their many injuries. She didn't notice that Max's arm had reached over, and clasped Fang's limp, calloused hand. She held on to his hand, and he held on to her.

**Okay, that chapter was about 1000 words longer than usual. Do I get extra reviews for that? I know that it wasn't extremely exciting or romantic, but that will be in the next chapter! I am building up to that! To all my reviewers, if you review, I will send you a few hints and a summary of what's to come in the next chapter or so… maybe even a spoiler or two? Who knows? That depends on how good the review is.**


	25. Out of Options

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Out of Options**

Fang was drifting away from life; the agony that radiated through his entire body becoming strangely unimportant. It was like the pain belonged to an entirely different person, and he was merely a bystander. The emptiness, the release from the aching and burning was exhilarating.

He was free from the pain, but he was alone in the darkness. He heard no sound and sensed nothing else around him.

Then, a bright light of an indescribable color began to approach him from a far distance. No, it was he who began to approach the light. It could only be the proverbial light that appeared before death. As he approached the light, he gradually began to forget his old life and was slowly being stripped of his memories. Not that it bothered him. He'd had a terrible life, and would not miss any of the memories from his life at the School and the mutant fighting arena. His pain, his past memories, and the life he was leaving behind didn't really matter. He wanted release. He'd had a horrible life.

He was on the threshold between the darkness and being consumed by the blissful, peaceful light when he stopped abruptly. He remembered…something; something that was very important to him. Not something. Someone.

The image of a face overlapped his vision. A face that induced a strange sensation in his chest, but he had no idea why. He saw tawny eyes with little golden flecks fused within; and the eyes sparkled with mirth. Her flawless rosy lips were quirked up in an irresistible smirk. Her light brown hair floated in wispy layers and thin blond highlights streaked through her hair like rays of gilded sunlight. Her skin was tanned to perfection, but in the most natural way.

She was the most breathtaking girl that he'd ever seen. The strange fluttering in his chest grew out of control until it was a wildly passionate fire that had already consumed his heart and mind, and was currently eating away at his soul. He knew that girl. Just the briefest, flitting thought about the girl sent pleasurable tingles down his stiffened spine.

Max.

That girl was Max. Suddenly, he fled out away from the magnificent bright light and into the seemingly endless darkness. He couldn't let go or leave; he had to go back. His memories of her grew clearer and clearer, like thick fog dissipating in the heat of the afternoon sun and making the landscape clear once more.

No one could deny that he'd had a truly terrible, short, and miserable life. But the few months that he had spent with Max made all the cruelty and suffering worthwhile. The burning in his heart fueled his determination to remain living. He wouldn't leave her. Max.

Pain scorched through every tired and battered nerve in his broken body. He could hardly stand the suffering, but he stood his ground for Max. He was deeply unconscious now, where even the pain could barely reach him, but he was grasping life in a tight grip. He would not let go. Now, because of Max, he now had a reason to live.

XOXO

"I'm losing him! I'm losing him!" Dr. Martinez cried out desperately. Fang had ceased breathing. Ella rushed over to her mother's side. Ella had pulled off her nice V-neck t-shirt that she'd worn and was now left in a light pink camisole, which was splotchy with perspiration and blood. Her jeans were in similar condition.

Dr. Martinez was still in her Freak Fest uniform, not having a spare second to change. Her white lab coat was splattered with blood, and she looked like an evil scientist. Her designer jeans that she was required to wear with her Freak Fest polo shirt was stained beyond recognition. Not that she cared in the slightest. She hated the uniforms and was probably fired from her job anyways.

The Flock was in a sorry state of disrepair. Their clothes were more tattered, stained, and dirty than they'd ever been and The Flock looked like they'd barely survived a brutal battlefield. They looked very out of place in the charming little room of the annex.

A sheen of sweat glistened on Dr. Martinez's brow.

Ella, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy gathered around Fang's bedside anxiously. Nudge was biting her lip in order to refrain from prattling nervously. Angel gripped her hands together tightly. Gazzy stared intently at his battered sneakers. Iggy remained seated at his chair. He felt no inclination to get up and stand by Fang's bedside. He was perfectly fine sitting by Max.

It's not like he hated Fang. He didn't… not anymore, anyways. However, he still was a bit bitter and angry that Max liked Fang and not himself. He knew that Max and Fang didn't make love to each other on their own volition. They were forced to by those sadistic monsters, the whitecoats. Still, Fang had what Iggy never could; a relationship with Max. Iggy would always be gruff and short with Fang, at least until he had moved on from Max.

Until then, Iggy stared sightlessly Max's beaten form sleep uneasily. Max was whimpering in her sleep. She dreamt in Avian, since it was her first language and it came naturally to her. It was a nagging reminder of how different Iggy was from Max and how much more she had in common with Fang. Iggy scowled, even though everyone else was too caught up with the flat-lining Fang to notice.

If Iggy had the ability, he would have been the only one to notice that Max and Fang were clutching the other's hand like they were lifelines. Fang's thumb, shakily but surely, stroked the side of Max's hand softly. It was more like a ghost of a touch than a true caress, but it was a miracle. Lots of miracles seemed to follow these bird-kids wherever they went. Of course, they've had an above average amount of tragedies, so it was probably pretty well balanced out.

The only sounds were the room's occupants breathing and the slow whooshing of the ceiling fan.

Then, every person in the room stopped breathing, Max and Iggy included. Iggy couldn't believe his ultra-sensitive ears. Fang was breathing. He wasn't dead after all. Max somehow understood this too, because she seemed to breath more easily now, and was more peaceful in her injury induced coma.

Ella, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy wandered like sleepwalkers to continue their duties. They had truly witnessed an unexplainable miracle. They'd seen a dead boy return to life.

Then, a seemingly ear-piercing gasp rang through the room. Ella stared speechlessly at Max and Fang's intertwined hands. The group stared, unblinkingly at yet another unexplainable occurrence.

"You guys never cease to amaze me." Dr. Martinez said so quietly, that it almost went unheard.

"What is so amazing, exactly?" Iggy burst out irritably. Everyone looked at Iggy as if they forgot that he was there.

"Max. She's holding Fang's hand." Nudge said quietly. Iggy hated to leave Max's side in her time of need, but he couldn't stand in that room any longer.

The kids watched Iggy as he left, then returned their attention back to Max and Fang. Dr. Martinez and Nudge watched Iggy closely. They pretended not to see him wipe away a few tears that nearly spilt from his eyes.

Bird-kids were supposed to be tough. They had to be. There were just some blows that couldn't be taken without tears. For Iggy, this was one of those.

Nudge wanted to go after him, but she knew that he just had to be alone. Watching him cry would only hurt his pride even more.

Ella asked Gazzy for help with folding Fang's wings correctly. The two wordlessly folded Fang's wings neatly against his sides. They couldn't fully fold them against his back, because he was lying on his back and his weight, as light as it was, could easily injure the fragile bones in his wings even more.

Avian-humans rarely lay on their backs due to the uncomfortable, cramped position that it put their wings in, but with Fang previously being on the brink of death, they had to have him flat on his back.

They began to work on Max's wings, which were in much better condition. Gazzy eagerly showed Ella the way that their wings worked. Ella had figured out the basics with Fang's wings, but she was eager to learn more about their strange, foreign anatomy. Ella was totally rapt with their glorious wings and Gazzy had always wanted to show someone the mechanics of their wings. Gazzy eagerly showed Ella new ways to detect dislocated joints, fractures, and the sore places where clumps of feathers had been ripped out. As Gazzy and Ella tended to the wings, Angel flitted between Max and Fang; routinely giving each a mouthful of yogurt or water.

Dr. Martinez rifled through her medical bag, finishing her extensive repairs on Fang. She didn't share her thoughts out loud, because they were too negative and the Flock really shouldn't hear them. They might have believed that Fang was saved, but not by a long shot. His skin, which was naturally tanned, was paler than a piece of printer paper. Little beads of sweat gathered on his brow.

Dr. Martinez had seen the vast amounts of his unique Avian-Human blood that he had lost and knew that if she didn't provide him with at least a few quarts of blood, then he would surely die, no matter how hard he clung to life. Bird-kids healed rapidly, but not fast enough for Fang to save himself. He was going to need help.

Dr. Martinez couldn't just go to a hospital or blood bank or even donate her own blood to Fang. His body would reject the one-hundred percent human blood and would shut down. She needed the perfectly crafted two percent Avian and ninety-eight percent human blood in order for Fang's body to accept it.

The second problem was that there was no way for her to get the blood into Fang. She needed to perform a blood transfusion, but had no means to do so. She needed specialized medical equipment, and she didn't exactly have that sort of equipment lying in a cupboard at her house. The equipment she needed was at at a hospital or at the Freak Fest.

She looked at Fang helplessly, ashamed that she had failed this boy again. She couldn't save him this time either. Her heart ached with sympathy for him, but he probably wouldn't want it. He would want her to figure out a way to save him, like any other person who would be leaving a loved one behind.

Not only would she be failing Fang, but she would be, yet again, failing Max by letting her lover die once again. She couldn't put Max through that again.

No, she definitely couldn't fail any of those poor kids again. The plan in her mind might have been a long shot at best, but it still was a shot and it was the best thing that she could do at the time. Then, she could honestly say that she gave her all to help Fang.

Dr. Martinez pulled out a particularly large syringe out of her bag. She looked at the rest of the Flock.

"Okay, you guys, listen up. We're not out of this yet. Fang's still in bad shape. He lost a lot of blood. And you guys have very special blood, so in order for Fang to live, you guys are going to have to give him some of your blood too. It may sting a bit, but I you really want Fang to live, you're going to have to give some blood. It may hurt a bit, but I promise you it won't be long." Dr. Martinez said, trying to hide her uncertainty of the situation with an authoritative tone.

Nudge stared at the syringe, doing a brave but unsuccessful job to hide the fear of the object in her eyes. The mere sight of a sharp medical object brought back terrible flashbacks of their awful lives back at the School before they were rescued by Anne.

Nudge mentally coaxed herself to volunteer first. She was going to have to. It would be too much to ask of Iggy, so she was the next in line to be leader. She was going to have to act like a leader now. There was nothing to fear. Not anymore. Dr. Martinez was a kind woman and the blood was to help Fang. Nudge didn't really know Fang, but Max loved him, so there had to be something very special about him. She couldn't let Max down.

"Okay. Let me go first." Nudge said firmly. Dr. Martinez looked at the twelve year old with a great amount of respect. That girl had been through unimaginable pain at the hand of doctors like herself, and yet she was facing her fear to help the boyfriend of a friend.

"Okay. Sit right here, sweetie." Dr. Martinez said. She was trying to be as different from the whitecoats as possible. Dr. Martinez disinfected a small spot in the crook of Nudge's left arm and proceeded to take a syringe-full of her precious blood. Dr. Martinez didn't comment on it, but she couldn't help but notice the eerily calm way that Nudge handled the needle, like it was almost an everyday procedure. By the thousands of tiny white dots on Nudge's coffee colored arm, she had been desensitized to needles a long time ago.

Dr. Martinez gently pulled the shiny silver needle out of Nudge's arm and put a smiley face bandage on the spot where it previously was. Nudge managed a timid smile.

"They sure didn't bother to put cute Band-Aids on us back at the School." Nudge said timidly, managing a terse smile. The rest of the Flock managed smiles too, but it wasn't happy smiles. They were more like the smiles someone wears when they are walking down to the boss's office when they know they are about to be fired.

Dr. Martinez wiped the syringe's needle off with a disinfectant wipe, thoroughly cleaning it. Was this method dangerous? Yes. Was it guaranteed to work? No. Was it an approved treatment taught at medical school? Definitely not. But it was their only shot. No pun intended.

Dr. Martinez disinfected a spot on Fang's malnourished but oddly muscular arm right above a prominent vein and injected the ruby liquid into it.

She repeated the process several times, carefully cleaning the needle each time and choosing a different spot on the person's body to inject/extract blood.

It was a tedious process, but after taking about two pints from Nudge, she gave Nudge a bar of chocolate and a carton of milk. She could only take so much blood from one person. Nudge was a little dizzy, but the food and fluids perked her right up.

Dr. Martinez extracted blood from Max. Max would want to help in any way that she could, if she were conscious. Gazzy and Angel were too little to give blood, much to their protests. Taking blood from Nudge was questionable. After all, humans were only medically ready to give a significant amount of blood at the age of seventeen. Given the fact that these were bird kids, who were much bigger and more mature than humans, Dr. Martinez could take blood from the older bird kids, like Max and Iggy. But Nudge was pushing it. There simply wasn't enough blood in Gazzy or Angel's bodies to share it with someone.

Fang had about four pints of blood more than he had before, but he still needed a good two more pints before he could be in a loosely stable condition.

Then, a tall, lanky, strawberry blond and blind bird kid stepped into the room.

"I heard that you needed a blood bag. Will you take my blood using the standard method by needles or vampire style?" Iggy said in an attempt at humor. Dr. Martinez looked over at him and was surprised to see a small, wry smile on his face. He was leaning against the doorframe, slouching a bit so that he didn't hit his head on the low doorway.

"I think that the traditional method would suffice." Dr. Martinez said, smiling warmly at him. She truly admired Iggy. She knew that he had a thing for Max, and was very broken up about the fact that she had chosen Fang over him. He didn't have to save Fang's life at all. In fact, it would be better for him if he let Fang die, for real this time, so that he could heal Max's broken heart and fill in as the man in Max's life. However, Iggy knew that Max would never replace Fang. He knew even without seeing, that Max loved Fang. He didn't want to take something like that away from here again. They'd all lost too much already to be selfish and turn against one another. Because all that they really had left were each other.

Iggy sat down at a chair near Max and held out his arm in an eerily habitual manner. He was no stranger to needles either. In fact, he was the most accustomed to them, since he was at the School the longest.

His pale skin, which was a deep contrast to Nudge's tawny skin, was speckled with hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of small dots where needles had pierced his skin. He didn't even twitch as the needle pierced his arm. It was very, very scary to see in someone as young as Iggy.

Dr. Martinez got the needed blood from Iggy, and gave it to Fang, who became less and less sickly looking. Even the stitched up wounds were healing faster, right before their very eyes.

Iggy was wearing his Mickey Mouse band aids with an odd sense of pride. Nudge sat next to him.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. She saw that Iggy had a particularly large gash on his arm. It could have used one or two stitches, but Nudge decided to simply clean it and bandage it tightly.

"Iggy," Nudge said quietly, and almost as if she were choosing her words carefully. Igg would have normally cracked a joke about Nudge not being the type to worry about her choice of words, but it sounded like she was about to say something important, so he let her continue with a nod of his head.

"Um, that was uh, very, very great thing for you to do. I was just going to say that I'm really, really proud of you. I know how tough and… well, you just rock." Nudge said, blushing. She was silently glad that Iggy couldn't see her rosy cheeks. However, nudge was nervous, and when she was nervous, she chattered uncontrollably.

"I've always thought that you were the best leader ever, and I've always looked up to you, but recently more than ever I've liked you even more. You probably only think of me a sister, and that's great, and I know that you really want Max for a girlfriend, but I'm not a kid anymore and I really like you. I could be your girlfriend too, if you want. I mean, I'm a bit younger than you, yeah, out if you feel wierded out, I'll wait until we're a few years older. I mean, I wouldn't like it, but I will. I really hate waiting but…" Nudge chattered, wishing that for once in her life that she would shut up.

Iggy's head turned towards her slowly. She tightened the bandage a little tighter than necessary on his upper arm. Iggy opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an earsplitting bang coming from the front door of the house.

There were the shouts of men, a loud voice more distinguishable than the others.

"I want you to find those mutants! We can't let them get away! Tranquilize them, and kill anything or anyone else that gets in your way!" The voice snarled, bordering on an animalistic tone. The Flock huddled together in silent fear; with Dr. Martinez and Ella in the center. They were all living a nightmare.

The two best fighters, Max and Fang, were unconscious and in no condition to fight and they were being invaded. The School was here, with Jeb calling the shots. Once again, they were trapped. But this time, fighting wasn't an option.

**This was shorter than the usual, I admit. I had to update. You don't want to hear my excuse for updating so late, so I won't bore you with it. I'm a terrible person for not updating, and I don't deserve your reviews. If anyone deserves reviews, it is the lovely Birdwatched. She is the one who inspired me to write again. Seriously guys, read her stuff. She deserves the reviews more than I do. **


	26. The Loophole

**Chapter Twenty-Six: The Loophole**

With Max and Fang out cold, Iggy was scrambling his brain to figure out a plan. Just because the Erasers were not with the home invaders, it didn't mean that the escape would be easy. They were all bruised, beaten, tired, and their nerves were totally shot from the stress. They wouldn't last long against the slew of big, brutish guys; especially when they had tranquilizer guns. Jeb and his cronies had real guns too, to use as a last resort if his merchandise was too hard to capture. He would probably only wound them, maybe kill them, if necessary. Iggy hadn't felt this trapped since his time as a young boy at the School; locked in a cage with no way out. Then, there was a time in Atlanta in the elevator at the library where the whole Flock and a couple of bookish librarians were stuck in the elevator for an hour while the firemen had tried to free them. That was a nightmare; being stuck in a broken elevator with a bunch of bird kids, some scowling librarians, and a…. well, gassy Gasman.

Suddenly, the windowless secret annex in the Martinez house seemed much smaller than it ever had in the past.

Iggy twittered, very quietly in Avian, for the kids to protect Dr. Martinez and Ella and to stay in the girl's bedroom with Max and Fang while he went upstairs. Iggy took a few steps outside the doorway to the tiny set of stairs that would lead him up to the main 'living' room of the annex. His bloodstained tennis shoes crept quietly up the soft, carpeted staircase. A slow, agonizing creak was emitted from a step, and Iggy winced, as if the noise had winded him. For a few heart-stopping seconds, he waited in complete silence; waiting to hear the loud shattering of the secret annex door and the thundering ou loud footfalls and shouting men. He ascended the staircase, carefully avoiding any noises that could lead to their detection.

A few moments later, he heard another groaning of a step, only quieter, as if someone of a lesser weight had triggered it. Certainly, no human in this house could be lighter than he was. After all, he only weighed roughly one-hundred pounds, despite his height and muscle. Iggy slowly turned his head ready to silently but furiously motion to whatever bird-kid that was following him to go back to guard the humans and the invalids.

"No!" a voice, definitely female hissed. Iggy rolled his cloudy blue eyes. Nudge had followed him, despite his orders. She was clearly breaking pretty much the only rule that he had as the leader. She had disobeyed his orders in a dangerous, even life threatening situation. He was seriously going to pull her off to the side for this one.

Her confession earlier sure had thrown him for a loop, but he didn't have time to contemplate his emotions. This was a matter of life and death. Either he found some way to escape, or they would be under siege, and that wouldn't last long, because there were six bird kids in the room, and they all required a stunning amount of calories to function, and cannibalism was definitely out of the question. Surrender was also not an option. He and the rest of the Flock would rather die than to go back to _that _place.

"Not now!" Iggy whispered vehemently. He hated to be gruff to her, but now was not the time for marred judgment and disobedience to the leader. "Go back to the rest of them. I need you to take care of them. Protect them if the meatheads make it down there."

Their whispers were too quiet for the human ear to discern. To a human, the noises of their whispers could very well be the hiss of the air conditioning or another guy passing gas. Super-whispering skills were just another benefit of being a bird kid. Of course, if he were human, he would probably be at home, watching television or at softball practice or hanging out with friends; none of this would have even happened. He tried not to be bitter. Really, he had wings. Humanity would kill for true flight. There were pros and cons to everything, and he just had to accept his lot in life and live it the best he could, because life was too short to whine about what could be.

"They are safe! If I'm up here, then the meatheads won't even make it down there. Besides, if the bad guys make it to them down there past you, you know that we're all screwed anyways. I'm not leaving you to fight alone. If I die, I want to die fighting with you." Nudge prattle-whispered. Something deep in Iggy's chest, something that he thought was dead a while ago, flared; if just for a moment. Then it was gone.

"Nudge, I'm not in the mood and I'm not really in a great situation to have a conversation. Go protect the others. God, you're being childish when I need you to be an adult, just for a minute, I need your help! And you can't even do that." Iggy said in an exasperated tone. Nudge took a step back, and looked at him like he had just backhanded her. He felt her injured stare, but didn't back down. He had to be harsh if he wanted her to listen now, and he _needed_ her downstairs to protect the others.

"You wouldn't tell Max to go back downstairs! You wouldn't make Max leave a fight! I can fight just as well as she can! I'm not a kid anymore, Iggy! Yeah, I have my moments, but I've been through all the crap that you've been through! I've been through everything that you have! You would have _Max_ fight by your side. What can she do that I can't?" Nudge whispered furiously, fighting admirable not to let her hurt to leak into her angry tone. Her light brown eyes were almost as dark as Fang's, but not nearly as blank or cold.

"You're not her!" Iggy said, louder than intended. "You'll never be her!" Iggy's heart, already broken to bits, began to injure him even more, and not only was he being tortured, but the dagger-sharp shards of his shattered heart cut everyone around him. He was in too much pain to truly know exactly how much his words damaged her. He was too busy trying to reign his emotions back in before they broke free again.

It was quiet. Their breathing was even too quiet to hear.

"I don't want to be." Nudge said so softly, that Iggy almost didn't hear her. Nudge then turned, and her retreating footsteps were almost silent.

Iggy tried to sweep up the pieces of his broken heart to form some sort of whole, but with each step that Nudge took, fleeing from him, it felt that it were as if she was walking on the fragile remains of his soul.

Iggy continued up the stairs, with no followers this time. He stood in the main room of the annex, a few feet from the false wall in the cupboard under the stairs. He stood ready, his other senses running on overdrive, striving to make up for his lack of vision. His ears became ultra-sensitive; he could hear his heart race, adrenaline slowly creeping through his veins. He heard a guard cough upstairs. He heard the guards talking about where they were going out to lunch in the dining room outside in the main house. His nose could even smell things that humans would never be able to smell; he smelled the bitter-sweet smell of his own fear and the strong, thick smell of his determination. He smelled the heady scent of Nudge's sadness and the sharp, clean smell of longing coming from various people, including himself.

Even Iggy's taste became extraordinarily profound. He could taste the popcorn that he had popped in the microwave off to his left a few days ago when he watched a movie with Max and Gazzy. He could taste the soda that he'd opened just that morning, before he and the Flock left to go rescue Max from the park. He was really astounded that it had only been that morning when he had left to go rescue Max. So much happened in a few hours. He remembered just that morning, when Max still could have possible loved him back in time, back when he still believed that he had a chance, back when Max had no chance of being pregnant and Fang was dead and not part-Eraser. He never would have guessed that in the evening of that same day, he would be making his final stand, protecting his family, including Nudge who probably hated his guts now and he would never get to apologize for blowing up on her like that. He would die protecting Dr. Martinez and Ella, the people who had been the only kind humans that he'd ever met after Anne. Finally, he would die for the girl who he would have loved forever, and the boy she would die for; the boy who wasn't Iggy. The boy who raped her, under the influence of a drug, but still…

Iggy clenched his fists. He heard the door to the cupboard under the stairs open.

Iggy closed his sightless eyes. He wouldn't need them open anyways. Maybe when he dies, it could look like he was sleeping rather than dead. It would probably be less scary for the younger kids and Ella and Dr. Martinez. That is, if they even survived long enough to ascend the stairs.

There were a few deep voices, shouting for Jeb to take a look at the inside of the cabinet.

Iggy clenched his fists, prepping for the bone-shattering blows that he would deliver to his attackers. He would get a few good punches in before he died. If they were going to treat him like an animal, he was going to give them one. Normally, he wouldn't stoop to their level, but now, it was personal.

There was a knock against the wall. Iggy, despite the terrifying situation, felt the strong urge to knock back; maybe scare the pants off of the knocking guy. At least he would get a laugh before he died.

Iggy held his breath, waiting; just waiting.

"there's nothing there, you idiots! We're here to find bird kids, not ghosts! Now find those bird kids before I grind you up into Lupine-human chow!" Jeb barked.

"But sir, we've scoured the house, they aren't…" a husky voice began. Jeb cut it off.

"Their godforsaken _van_ is in the front yard! This is where they would have come! Search the woods then. Just _find them_!" Jeb shouted, the volume of Jeb's yell making Iggy's ears ring. The door to the cupboard made a particularly loud slam.

Iggy stood there for a moment, before being swept away by a feeling of relief. They weren't going to be found after all. He wasn't going to die today. Then, reality leaked back into his consciousness, once again sobering his mood.

They were safe; for now. Sooner or later, they would have to either find a different way out or fight to the death with their eyes on the exit.

Iggy thought a mental message for Angel, who was, in fact, reading his thoughts, as he knew she was. She let the others know that the coast was clear, but to not emerge from the back rooms downstairs. The Flock members got rest, Ella and Angel sharing a bed while Gazzy got another one in the guys' bedroom. For the day, the 'no boys are allowed to sleep in the same room as the girls' rule was being bent for the circumstances. Dr. Martinez took a spare pillow from the closet in the girls' room and insisted on staying in Fang and Max's room in case something were to happen during the night.

Iggy stayed upstairs, guarding the door to the annex while desperately racking his brain for some plan to escape. It was going to be a long night, and Iggy wasn't going to sleep a wink.

XOXOXO

Iggy lay on his side, still thinking about a way out. It was one-thirty in the morning, and he still had no idea on how to escape.

His eyes were sluggishly blinking, longing to drift shut. Uneasily, he allowed himself a moment's rest. After all, he was an extremely light sleeper, even if he was as tired as can be. He would hear if so much as the cupboard door slowly opened, exposing the false wall to the annex.

After about a minute, Iggy's sightless eyes shot open and he sat up as if electrocuted. He heard a loud gasp from downstairs, which was quickly muffled. He rigidly stood up and went downstairs, to go remind his fellow prisoners to remain quiet and partially investigate what would cause someone to gasp like that.

He soundlessly descended the stairs, carefully skipping over the creaky steps. He turned to get a better angle for listening into the room where Gazzy, Nudge and Angel slept. They were all sound asleep. He crept into Max and Fang's room, somehow knew Dr. Martinez standing above Max's bed. Max was awake. The gasp wasn't Dr. Martinez though; it was Max. She had gasped when she saw Fang's patched up and punctured body.

Iggy didn't really care so much for the Fax, but he did care that Max was awake. He was relieved to know that she actually would wake up, because he was having his doubts.

"What happened?" Max asked quietly. Dr. Martinez stammered for a bit, but didn't form a complete sentence. Max took in their state. Dr. Martinez and Iggy both looked exhausted. Dr. Martinez's clothes were bloodstained and splotchy with sweat. Her hair was wild. Iggy had a black eye that hadn't swollen, but was as black as a midnight sky. His face and arms were bandaged, bruised, and cut up really bad. Iggy looked like he needed a hug.

Fang was in terrible shape, battered and butchered almost beyond recognition. His ash black hair was matted with blood and sweat and his eternally tan skin was pale, almost as if he were dead. If it weren't for the steady rising and falling of his chest, she would have believed that he was dead.

Iggy gave Max a summary of what had happened while she was passed out, editing out the emotional or unnecessary parts.

T was quiet for a few long moments.

"Thank you Iggy. I'll never really be able to tell you how glad I am to have you around." Max said, her eyes resting solely on Iggy.

"No problem, Max. We're family, right?" Iggy said, forcing a bit of positivity into his voice.

"Right. Family." Max said a bit more quietly, more to herself than to anyone else.

Max was struggle tempted to go over to Fang and squeeze in next to him, no matter how mushy or girly that looked. He'd almost died, many times, and yet he held on, he held on for life. Maybe even for her. She wanted to be close to him while she still could.

She shakily stood up, and Iggy instinctively leaned over to steady her, but she brushed him off. She took a few wobbly steps, then sit down on the edge of Fang's bed. Iggy heard every unsteady footstep that she took, and heard the mattress creak under her light weight. Max brushed Fang's black hair out of his face, but his stubborn black bangs insisted on lying right over his eyes. They were almost as stubborn as he was.

"So, have you got a plan for escaping?" Max asked quietly, still memorized by Fang's battered face.

"No, but I'll think of something. I always do. This time won't be any different." Iggy said with more confidence than he felt.

Max traced Fang's high cheekbones with a finger as light as a downy feather. She tried to avoid the levity and the dozens of razor thin and jagged cuts on his face. She knew that the marks were dealt by the claws of an Eraser, claw swipes that had narrowly missed clawing his face off.

Fang's breath came out in a shudder.

Iggy looked pained, like every breath that he took in that room were like inhaling rusty nails. He hated to have to think about the fact that he could never be with Max like he wanted. However, he despised having to stay in the room where Max caressed the guy that she loved, who was not Iggy.

"If you don't need me, I'll be… bye." Iggy said briskly. He turned around on his heel and walked towards the door.

"You might want to hear this. I know a way to get out." Max said tonelessly. Iggy stopped dead in his tracks. How could she have possibly figured out the answer to the problem that he had been contemplating for hours on end? She had been unconscious that whole time! She wasn't awake for ten minutes, and she already had a grand scheme to escape alive? It was doubtful, but for some reason, Iggy was intrigued. Maybe she knew something that he didn't. After all, Max was a great fighter. They actually now stood a slim chance of fighting their way out of this mess.

Maybe Max had a skill that she'd never talked about before. Who knew? Iggy just really, really needed to hear some good news. This morbid, doom-and-gloom stuff was driving him to insanity. That is, if years of caring for a flock of little homeless human-avian hybrids twenty-four/seven didn't already drive him to madness.

"We could cause a distraction on the outside and sneak out. Or, we could simply sneak out between guard shifts." Max said evenly.

Iggy couldn't help but feel disappointed. He was hoping for a real idea, but those wouldn't work.

"One, where would we get the distraction? And if we did, the distraction would die pretty fast with all those guys with guns out there. Two, how could we possibly sneak out, or know the guard shifts?" Iggy sighed, more defeated than negative.

"There is one way. If our distraction wasn't seen, they would lead the guards on… what do you call it… a wild chicken chase?" Max said, sounding mildly curious, like she was worried that her biggest concern was correcting her imperfect English.

"A wild goose chase." Iggy smirked. " and where, exactly, would we find this unseen distraction?"

Both Iggy and Dr. Martinez looked at Max. If she said anything about imaginary friends or faeries, Iggy knew that they were in for it. Max must have been hit harder in the head than they originally thought. Maybe that nasty drug that Jeb had injected her with had mild insanity as a side effect.

"There is something that you don't know…" Max said quietly.

_I'm sorry, Fang. _You_ should have been the ne to say this, but we really don't have a choice. I'm sorry. _

Max thought.

Both Iggy and Dr. Martinez were staring at her with their full, intent attention now.

"Fang can turn invisible."

**Well, again, that wasn't as long as usual, but that makes it two updates within a week and a day early. I love all of you for reviewing, and my dear friend, FangandIggyRule,, has a story up for adoption, in case anyone is interested. Let me or FangandIggyRule know if you want to adopt it. Please review! I loved the reviews! You guys are the best thing that I could ever ask for. **


	27. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing**

Dr. Martinez greatly resembled a goldfish, with her mouth gaping slightly then closing again without a sound.

Iggy looked sightlessly at Max, his countenance skeptical. He knew that magnetism and mind-reading were a little out there as far as skills go, but invisibility? That was definitely a new one. Maybe all bird kids did have a skill, but could he really turn invisible? So what if he could, anyways. If he never woke up, how the heck is he supposed to lead the guards on a wild goose chase? He would have to wake up soon, like tomorrow. They wouldn't last long in that annex.

Max knew what he was thinking, almost as if she had read his thoughts.

"I'm not crazy. Fang showed me back in the Aviatory when no one was watching. Maybe they made us all with a skill. I can fly at super speeds. Gazzy can mimic stuff and you know… pass deadly gas. Nudge can magnetize stuff. I don't know about you or Angel though. Fang's skill is invisibility." Max said evenly, looking at both Iggy and Dr. Martinez stoically. She stroked Fang's bloody hand. Whether it was covered in his blood or someone else's, no one knew.

Iggy figured that it was time to tell them about Angel's little skill. He'd already formed a tentative plan that would fall into effect if Fang woke up anytime soon. It involved Angel's mind reading skill, and there would be a lot less confusion if everyone was on the same page.

"You're half right. I'm the only one without a skill." Iggy said, trying to keep bitterness out of his voice. He had the most disadvantages out of everyone in the Flock. He didn't even have a stupid special skill. Sure, he could hear and smell and feel better than the rest of the Flock, but all blind people had heightened senses. For their species, anyways. "Angel does have a skill. She can read minds." Iggy decided to take this one step at a time. He could tell them about the mind-controlling part later.

Max stared at Iggy, waiting for him to say that he was just joking.

Poor Dr. Martinez was still stuck on the fact that these kids, had all these amazing skills that defied science as they knew it! Invisibility, magnetism, now _mind-reading_. It totally blew her away. Wait, just because Angel could read minds, it didn't necessarily meant that she had been spying on everyone's thoughts this whole time… did it?

Max, on the other hand, had no doubts in her mind that Angel had been trolling through her thoughts. Her face turned a pale, shocked expression to a flushed, angry expression.

"And _you_ put her up to looking through my thoughts! Those are _private_! I don't want _anyone_ looking into my thoughts! I trusted you! You should have told me! Instead, you were picking through my thoughts just like a whitecoat would! I thought…" Max started. She'd stood up from her place next to Fang. Her shouting caused Fang to shift restlessly in his sleep. His eyes darted rapidly to and fro beneath his eyelids.

"I never asked Angel to spy through your thoughts! If I did want to find out what you were thinking all the time, do you honestly think that I would have been stupid enough to fall for you if I knew that you didn't care about me! You don't care about any of us! You're always so selfish, Max! You've always been suspicious of us even after we've broken you out of that hellhole where you used to live, _twice_, and we taught you how to speak English, and taught you how to be more human. God, Max we thought that you would be part of our family! The words 'love' or 'family' mean _nothing _to you! I wish that I would have known sooner, I never would have fallen in love with you if I did." Iggy ranted. His face was reddened with anger and his blue eyes were more like shards of ice than the normal sky-blue color.

Max staggered back, as if he'd just roundhouse kicked her in the gut. She tried to take deep breaths, but all that she could inhale were short, raspy shudders. He _loved her_. By the way he'd said it, he'd meant more than a friend. More than a family member, too. Love, like the way she loved Fang.

Dr. Martinez quietly left the room. This was a discussion that belonged between the two of them and she felt like an intruder just standing there. She decided to take a spare pillow and rest on the floor in Gazzy, Nudge and Angel's room. She'd feel like an intruder if she listened in on their conversation.

Iggy continued to talk back to Max. No one was shouting. They weren't talking above hushed tones, but it didn't make the conversation less intense.

"If it wasn't for us, if it wasn't for _me_, you wouldn't even be speaking this language! You'd be back at that godforsaken fishbowl puking your guts out while stupid human tourists watched. You'd have a baby in your belly and as soon as you had it, the whitecoats would take it away and you'd never see it again! They'd be forcing you to breed with that _monster_ on the bed next to you! You'd have babies and they'd take them away and torture them just like they tortured us! And all that you'd have left is that broken beast who can't even control when he turns into our worst enemy." Iggy hissed as he gestured vaguely into Fang's direction. Max bared her teeth and growled in a way that sounded too animalistic to be human. It was quite frightening.

A nasty sneer marred Iggy's handsome features.

"Careful, Max. You'll be just as much of a monster as he is." Iggy said in a low voice. Max couldn't handle it anymore. Iggy was behaving severely out of character, and it was really getting under her skin. She couldn't take any more of his hostility. She despised the fact that he was right… about most of the things. She wouldn't think of Fang as a monster. She refused to. He couldn't help it that he was part Eraser now. He was still the same guy that she loved with all of her being. Max didn't fully believe that, though.

She knew that Fang was part Eraser, but she'd seen him do disgusting, terrible things as an Eraser. She'd never tell him, but she was disgusted and even frightened by what he could do when he was an Eraser. Even when he had been fighting to save her, he'd killed without mercy and killed so easily. He'd _eaten_ another Eraser! How could he not be a monster after that? Max wondered, even deeper down inside of her heart, how could she love a monster? Max didn't want to hear it anymore. She loved Fang. She did. He would learn to control his morphing. She was ashamed, too. Fang would never once question his love for her if the roles were reversed and she was the unconscious, part-Eraser part-avian part-human on the bed. Iggy was just pushing on her last nerve, and she couldn't take it.

Max charged at him and knocked him down. She held her hand on Iggy's throat, glaring into his eyes that would never see again.

"Go ahead, Max. Kill me. You never cared about any of us. It was your own blind stupidity that got us into this mess. You should have never went back to the park. Now that _thing_ over there knocked you up. At least if you kill me, the baby will have two monsters for parents instead of one." Iggy said, barely above a mumble. But Max heard it all. She couldn't kill Iggy, no matter what he said. She snatched her hands away from his neck as if scalded. She was horrified by what she almost did. She almost hurt Iggy. Maybe she would have killed him. He was right. She was a monster. She stared at her now flat stomach. What if there was a baby in there? If there was, it was her fault. It was her fault that they were trapped. It was all her fault.

Max had quite a taxing day. She couldn't stop the tears from dripping down her face. She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. She turned away from Iggy. She hated to cry in front of anyone. It made her look like a big fat wimp. She didn't really have any control over it, at the moment.

This day took the cake for the suckiest day of Iggy's existence, and that even counts the days that he was locked up in the School. What they did to him there… it hurt physically. Here, it hurt his soul, and those wounds took a long time to heal, if they ever healed at all. Even bird kids needed time to heal when their heart was broken.

Iggy regretted saying that stuff to Max, but he couldn't deny that he'd meant most of it. It killed him to see her sobbing like that, and it was his fault that she was. Iggy wanted so badly to whisper apologize into her ear and hold her close and to comfort her while she was crying. But she'd chosen who she wanted. Iggy wasn't that guy. So he left to go sleep on the couch upstairs without another word.

Max didn't want to spend another second alone, and she especially didn't want to spend another night alone. She crawled into bed with Fang, careful not to disturb any on his injuries. She cried softly, hoping that she wouldn't wake him. He was deeply unconscious, but she still didn't want to cause him to lose any sleep. He needed it to get better. The tears made her face sticky, but that was the least of her problems. She snuggled next to Fang; the sound of his heartbeat was a sound that she'd missed terribly while he was gone. A deep bass sound emanated from his chest; a sigh of contentment. At a time where everything should have felt right, Max could only let tears trail down her face as she fell asleep.

That night, she had a terrible dream that made her unconscious world not any better than the horror of the real world. She was reliving a memory that had originally been suppressed by a drug. Now, her sleeping mind had unearthed the memory as it ran vividly through her dreams. She had wished that it would have stayed forgotten.

It was dark and even with her hawk-like night vision, she couldn't see very well. She was lying on the cold, marble floor that reeked of a sickly sweet cleaner and the nauseating scent of antiseptic. She was in the School, which was located in the Freak Fest Park now. The floor and the knowledge that she was back in the horror house called the School was enough to chill her to the bone.

Her skin was slick with sweat and she was breathing in gasps. She noticed that her arms were lying on the ground, straight out, like Jesus was on those crucifixes in a church. Except, she wasn't nailed for the floor, and heaven forbid, she wasn't perfect. Max tried to struggle and to see what was keeping her on the floor, but everything was strangely hazy, as if her eyes were shrouded with an evanescent fog. She tried to move her legs as well, but they were also pinned to the floor. She couldn't move at all.

She squinted, and suddenly, something came into focus. It was Fang. He was going to rescue her. To help unchain her from the floor or untie her or remove whatever was holding her down. But that wasn't the case. Fang was the one holding her down. That wasn't even the scary part. Fang came into focus even more, now like a high definition image. His chest was bare and along with the countless amount of old and newer scars, his defined muscles were enough to make adrenaline rush through her veins and to send her heart racing. His eyes, though. They were petrifying.

Fang's eyes were so brown, that they were practically obsidian most of the time. Max looked into them and saw that they were as black as the devil's soul. She couldn't tell the difference between his irises and his pupils. His eyes were completely onyx and looked demonic. Normally, she couldn't read his emotions through his eyes. Now, they were the eyes of a starving man. His eyes were deep and dark with a starving lust that couldn't possibly be sated. They scared her. She'd never seen Fang look at her like this before.

Fang removed his hands from her wrists, but Max still couldn't move. She tried to struggle for an inch, but she wouldn't budge. Fang's hands were now grasping the material of her t-shirt. In one swift motion, he ripped the fabric of her t-shirt in half, his shoulder and arm muscles rippling as he did so. Max wanted to cover herself, because Fang' breathing hitched as he regarded her hungrily. Now, she only wore a bra and jeans. His gaze lingered at her chest and she wanted to slap him. He was making her feel very uncomfortable and was treating her like she wasn't even there; like she wasn't a person.

In fact, Fang didn't seem to be acting like himself at all. When she was forced to wear those terrible skimpy clothes when she was first imprisoned at Freak Fest, Fang had admirably kept his gaze from being lustful and dehumanizing towards her. He didn't treat her like a possession that he greedily used whenever it pleased him, like a coffeemaker. He treated her like a person, better than she could have ever hoped for. Maybe the respectful, good Fang that she'd seen in the Freak Fest Aviatory was simply a disguise to be used then discarded. Maybe this is what the real Fang was like. That was probably the most terrifying thing of all.

Suddenly, Max was able to move, but it wasn't by her own free will. Instead, her hands were moving of their own accord, and no matter how hard she fought to make them do as she wished, her hands were not obeying her. Max was terrified. It was like _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. Max briefly remembered the cheesy movie that she had watched back at Dr. Martinez's house on one of her many sleepless nights. Right now, it didn't seem cheesy at all. She understood how the people felt, having their body being manipulated to do another's wishes and having to wait in terror as your own body betrayed you.

Max could only watch as her own hands stripped her of her last bits of clothing, then proceeded to snatch Fang's clothing off as well. Max wasn't all complaints, however. She couldn't honestly admit that she didn't like seeing and feeling Fang and him running his hands along her smooth skin. But not like this. She loved Fang. She really did. But the way that things were happening, the way that he was looking at her with those terrible lustful eyes that were not at all intriguing, the way that he roughly groped her, and the way that she didn't want to do this now, was turning what would be a dream into a terrible nightmare.

It continued, and Max became more and more afraid of Fang. She was resentful at him for treating her this way, and she resented herself for not doing something about it. She was ashamed. It felt so, so wrong. It shouldn't be this way. Max fought and fought against her body, like a prisoner furiously beating against the bars of her cage. She was angry that there wasn't anything that she could do, she fought against her body, but it didn't even make her hands falter from doing what they were doing.

Max unbuttoned Fang's jeans; the shiny silver button gleaming in an oddly bright way with the dim lighting. She unzipped the zipper and eased the jeans off of his legs. Fang took it from there, and Max just let him. That infuriated Max so much. She was not really the type to sit by and be led like a dumb sheep. She was definitely more shepherd than sheep. And her body was making her behave more like the latter than she had ever done in her entire life.

Fang didn't even care that he was hurting her. He didn't even seem to notice. He was caught up in his own greed, lust, and ecstasy. Max saw his eyes staring into her own, so terrifying, as he held her down, and she couldn't do anything to resist him. Fang really was a monster, like when he had tried to kill her when she'd first met him and like when he had killed Dylan and like when he was morphed into an Eraser and was trying to tear her throat out. Only now, he showed that he was enjoying watching her suffer while when he did those other things, the only thing he displayed was cold indifference.

They were both slick with sweat and Fang's grip on her arms was so tight, that it was making her hands turn blue. The last thing that she saw were his frightening, black-as-sin eyes, where she saw only his terrible, consuming hunger.

Max awoke to strong, calloused hands holding her down and a pair of obsidian eyes staring into her eyes; dark, emotionless eyes. Fang's eyes.

Max struggled with all of the strength that she could muster in her banged up and broken condition. He skin was sticky with sweat. Her chest was heaving with fragmented breaths, like she had just flown a million miles at the speed of a rocket.

Max struggled, and finally wrenched herself free. Fang was, in healthy condition, stronger than her, though she'd never admit it to him. She was faster than him, but when it came to muscular strength, Fang had her beat. Fang wasn't in healthy condition, by any definition. She could count every one of his ribs, and he was covered with stitches, bruises, and gauze that held the broken bones in place. He was weak from blood loss and malnutrition. Max, was beaten up pretty bad and still tired, was still nourished from all her months at Dr. Martinez's house. She was much stronger than Fang now.

Max raced over to her own bed and away from Fang. She couldn't even form a rational, complete thought at the moment. She was still stuck in a terrified, dream mentality. Max ha two options on her mind: fight or flight. At the moment she chose flight. She would fight, if it came down to it. Max crawled over to the farthest side away from Fang and hid behind the bed, peering over at Fang with narrowed eyes, frightened but ready to fight to the death, like a cornered animal.

"Max?" Fang said quietly. He was cautious and confused. He had woken up in the middle of the night; hungry and terribly sore. However, he did feel Max beside him and all of his ailments seemed to flee like cockroaches before a bright light. Then, he realized was struggling, thrashing in her sleep. Her movements became more and more wild until she was practically flailing. She was muttering things in the language of humans, a tongue that he couldn't understand. The tone however, he could understand. She sounded scared. He wanted to rip whatever was scaring her apart and to hold her close, but how could he fight a nightmare? He sat up despite the searing pain in his abdomen. He looked at his body and saw that he was covered with stitches and gauze.

He slid his long legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His aches and pains returned to him in a flood and he wanted to collapse into a miserable ball and go to sleep, losing himself and the pain in his dreams, good or bad, at least there he wasn't in this agony. However, there was something wrong with Max. She was scared, and that was really hard to do. He'd never seen her like this. The way that she looked at him like he was going to eat her bothered him a lot.

"Max, what's wrong? You were just having a dream. A really bad dream. I'm not going to hurt you." Fang said in a calm, even tone. With each couple of words, he took a step forward towards her despite his screaming muscles.

"But you already did."

Fang stared at Max, stunned and more confused than before. When had he hurt her? Well, he'd hurt her as an Eraser, and when he thought that he had to when he first saw her. But she knew that he'd never hurt her again. He'd die to protect her.

"What are you talking about? Was it that dream? It was just a dream, Max. I wouldn't…" Fang started in that same, calm tone, trying to get her to think rationally.

"It wasn't a dream. It really happened! I know it did! I thought that I knew you, but…" Max's voice broke off.

Fang's emotionless façade evaporated, revealing pain.

"Max, I really didn't mean to hurt you back in the Aviatory. When I'm an Eraser, I can't control what I'm doing." Fang said. His eyes were pleading, his vacant countenance abandoned.

"You weren't an Eraser." ax said, her chocolate brown eyes peering at him over the bare mattress top.

Fang stopped in his tracks. His brows furrowed in confusion. Max was speaking in riddles. What was wrong with her? What had he done? What could she possibly be referring to? Max's eyes narrowed to angry slits. Suddenly, Fang's vision was overcome by a vision; no, a flashback, a suppressed memory. He saw what Max had seen, but from his perspective.

He saw Max's glazed over expression. She looked like a drugged zombie in the memory. He could even smell the stomach-turning scent of antiseptic that penetrated through every particle of the School. Fang watched in horror as his body moved of its own free will. He greedily grasped at Max, running his hands all over her while she laid there, bare on the cold hard floor. He would never treat her like that. He became rougher with her. She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and Fang swallowed. He loved Max and he couldn't deny that what she was doing felt good, but he knew that it was wrong. It felt wrong, and he knew the deadly consequences. He wanted to stop, but his body kept on going. The deed was done, and Max's brown eyes were empty, glazed over, and revealing nothing, almost like she was a corpse. It was chilling.

Fang was sure that his roughness with her body had hurt her. He'd used her like a cheap source of amusement that could easily be discarded, but she was the opposite to him. He would never treat her like that, ever. Besides, he knew how dangerous it was for her to get pregnant now. That was Max's dream. That's what she was talking about. She couldn't be… How long had he been out. Oh, God…

Thoughts like those raced through Fang's head. His skin paled like he had just eaten poison. His eyes were wild with fear and uncertainty.

"You're a monster, no matter what skin you happen to be wearing." Max said quietly. Her words cut him like a razor blade through silk.

Fang stiffened.

Now Max was afraid of him. He was afraid of himself. After what he'd done to Max. He'd never forgive himself. Max was right, and that was probably why it hurt so much. You didn't have to be a mutant or abomination to be a monster. He'd probably ruined her life now.

Max stared at him, still in that fight-or-flight mentality. She flinched when Fang reached out over to her, and she scuttled away from his outstretched hand. Fang pulled his arm back, as if she'd burned him. He stared at his hands as if they were about to sprout coarse black Eraser fur and ragged razor-sharp claws. He wouldn't be surprised. After all, they were the instruments of a monster.

Max was afraid of him. He'd hurt her, when he'd sworn to be her protector. He was supposed to keep her safe, not be the thing that hurt her most. He'd _raped_ her. He was the worst monster of them all, and it wasn't even because he was part eraser now. Maybe he was a monster this whole time. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

If Max was going to have a baby now, because of him, it would be a monster too. Part Eraser, part avian, part human. It wouldn't be part monster because of the bits of wolf in its genes. It would be half-monster because he would be the father.

That would be a fine kettle of fish. Fang, who was a wolf, avian, human, freak had raped Max under the influence of a drug and then she would have a child who would be a monster as well, even more reason to resent him, and the baby, no doubt. Then the School would find them all and experiment on them and take the baby away and probably force him and Max to have more babies together. The whole Flock, who had done nothing but help him and Max escape, teach Max incredible things and take care of her, and to bandage both their injuries, would be taken back to the School as well to suffer mind-numbing pain. Dr. Martinez and Ella would probably be killed. They were humans and disposable. Then, they would die before they reached their twenties in a dog crate then their miserable bodies would be fed to Erasers.

That was actually a realistic, and probably possibility. And it was all his fault.

Fang ached all over. His broken body, broken mind, and broken heart were too much. He shuffled back to the bare bed, not knowing where he was, or anywhere else to go. He turned to his side, his back and heavily bandaged wings facing towards Max. Max watched him from her bed impassively as she saw his shoulders, his entire frame shudder. From pain, cold, or emotions, she didn't know.

It had to be one of the first two because Fang didn't cry. After a while, he grew still. Max cautiously crawled up onto her own bed. She wouldn't let her emotions get the better of her as she fell into an uneasy sleep. The thoughts of Fang's cold, dark, lustful eyes haunted her.

The next morning, Dr. Martinez found Max and Fang on separate beds, which was odd, because they'd fallen asleep in the same one.

She first looked at Fang and was awed at how quickly his wounds had healed up. The smallest scratches and bruises were completely cone and the largest gashes and broken bones were mending at a tremendous speed.

He was as far away from Max as possible, though, with his back turned towards her and he was perched precariously on the edge of the bed, the farthest edge away from Max. Dr. Martinez worried that he would kill himself, with all the extra work that his body was doing in attempts to heal itself, it was sapping all of Fang's energy. She could already see many of his bones, so he needed to eat in order to regain his strength.

Fang hadn't even awoken yet... but maybe he had during the night.

Dr. Martinez wondered if Max and Fang had quarreled while they were all asleep. What could they possibly had fought over? Neither of them even remembered the whole drug-induced 'breeding' thing at the School, so that couldn't have been what they'd fought about. Dr. Martinez thought that now that Max had Fang back, the two would be inseparable. Fang was still on his side; sleeping in a way that seemed so sad. He couldn't be happy, even in his sleep.

Max was already awake, but she was staring blankly at the wall. Dr. Martinez tried to pry some answers out of her, but Max wouldn't speak at all.

Out of habit, Iggy was the next to wake. He also tried to get Max to talk, or even to tell Fang about the plan to get out of there, but she refused to speak, and seemed opposed to the idea of speaking directly towards Fang.

Iggy spoke to Fang himself. Fang was also awake, but stared at the wall blankly. Fang only nodded when Iggy asked if he understood the plan.

"I'll do it. Just don't come back for me." Fang said in his emotionless voice. His stoic mask was once again firmly in place. No one could even tell that he's been freaked out the night before.

At noon, Fang shimmered into true invisibility. The Flock gasped quietly, marveling at this new, amazing skill. Angel would monitor his thoughts and translate any voices that he'd hear in English, if necessary.

Fang slid the annex door to the side, the walked without a sound, into the rest of the house. The wall made a low grinding sound as it slid back into place. Fang crept around the first story of the house. He was silently marveling at the house with a new, odd curiosity. He'd never been in a house. He didn't even know what a house was. It was extremely strange to him. He kept focused on the mission at hand, however. Apparently, there were only two guards stationed in the house at a time, since the first 'thorough' search yielded no results. The rest of the human squad was outside, scouring the woods for a sign of them.

Angel repeated the news to the rest of the Flock, who was relieved. Fang saw a small Pomeranian dog, locked in a dog crate that looked a lot like the one that he'd lived most of his life in. Angel also relayed this information to Ella, who was relieved to know that her beloved pet was still okay.

Fang walked into the kitchen. The two guards were in the living room, which was two rooms to the west of him. Fang invisibly gathered a ton of pots and pans from various cabinets, with Angel's guidance. Then, he released them all to the floor. In his hands, he carried a few wine glasses. He would shatter those in various places to keep the goons away from Max, the humans, and the Flock.

The metal pots and pans clattered to the floor and Fang bolted into the dining room, which was far away from the cupboard under the stairs and the front door. The guards wouldn't even see the others escaping.

Just as they'd all predicted, the guards raced into the kitchen as fast as their brawny legs would carry them. They were barking at each other, asking how that could have happened and whatnot. Their shouting was enough to mask the sound of the sliding wall of the annex being opened.

Fang shattered a wineglass. The guards stomped into the dining room, shouting even more loudly at each other. The Flock filed out, two at a time, ant left out the front door. At the moment, no one was guarding the front door, because he too had left to see what all the shouting ang breaking of glass was all about. Now Fang had an audience of three.

He ran into a room farther back in the house and smashed another glass against the ground. Ella and Dr. Martinez would be the last to leave the annex and to get into the van. The Flock had already taken off into the sky. Jeb would more likely follow Max and the Flock than the easily replaceable Dr. Martinez and her human daughter.

Fang had run out of glasses now, and the three hefty men in the doorway stared menacingly around the room, not amused.

Being invisible really wore Fang out and had sapped all of Fang's remaining energy. He couldn't do anything as he slowly faded back into sight. The guards stared at him, dumbstruck, but after a moment, he was recognized. His legs were too weak to withhold his weight so, he leaned against the wall and prepared to be put out of his misery. He hoped to God that he wouldn't leave this world with his baby in Max belly. He hoped that she wasn't pregnant. She didn't deserve it. He knew that Iggy, Dr. Martinez, Ella, and the Flock would take care o her. They'd protect her better than he'd managed to. He'd done her more harm than good. He was a monster. Monsters always died in the end. Like Frankenstein.

Fang wouldn't die with his eyes closed. As the guards raised their pistols at him and prepared to shoot, Fang stared them right in their beady little pig eyes.

Fang braced himself. He couldn't escape if he'd wanted to. His wings were broken in more than one place. He couldn't fly. At least he would go down fighting. It was ironic that he'd been raised to fight, and after all the time he'd spent fighting to stay alive, that he'd die fighting.

A shot rang through the house. A piercing scream wailed through the house. Several bodies slumped to the floor, and blood stained the carpet. Human blood without an ounce of animal DNA in it.

Fang had charged at the big guard guy in on the right. Ella had tackled the guy in the middle. The guy on the left had shot her. She stared at the ceiling, unblinking as a red stain blossomed on her light shirt and her blood spilled onto the floor. She was dead.

**That took a while before I found it to be satisfactory. I apologize for the wait. I just hope to get to 1000 reviews before the story is over! Please review if it was worth reading. **


	28. The Sky is Falling

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Sky is Falling**

Fang stood near the doorway, dazed, but still as the young girl lie still on the floor. The guard nearby held a smoking gun in his hand, now aimed directly at Fang. Fang expected the girl to stir or moan or make any motion to signify that she was alight; but she didn't. Her hair looked a lot like Dr. Martinez's. Fang noticed a lot of similarities between Dr. Martinez and this unknown girl.

Fang tried to approach the girl, but the gunman scowled and tightened his hold on the gun, his finger instantly ready to pull the trigger that would end Fang's life forever. The guard didn't even show the slightest remorse; despite the fact that he'd just murdered an innocent young human girl. Her death wasn't necessary, but the guard did it. Fang understood that the guard hadn't shot her because it was necessary. He'd shot her because it was easy. It didn't make the act any less despicable.

Dr. Martinez was sobbing and shrieking in the background. He'd fought and killed long enough in the mutant fighting ring to know when a creature was dead. He also knew that the similarities between the dead girl and Dr. Martinez that the girl that was shot was indeed Dr. Martinez's daughter. Her death did not confuse him. She was an amateur at combat and made an amateur mistake, which killed her in the end. He was confused because he didn't know why the girl would make an attempt to save him. She had risked and consequently lost her life to help Fang get free. He'd had no intention of becoming free though, but that was beside the point. He'd never even met the girl before, and yet she'd tried to save him. That thought really bothered him.

Dr. Martinez's cries were becoming louder as he became more focused on the problem at hand. There were still enemies in the room, and Dr. Martinez was in trouble as well. She should have fled to the van, as was the plan, but Max would be furious with him if he left her behind. He was filled with adrenaline and anger slowly motivated him. Dr. Martinez's _daughter_ had tried to help him, and died because of it. He silently wondered why people had to die because of him.

At the moment, he hadn't a second to spare for grieving and beating himself up over the events that unfolded. Kick the guards' butts now, ask questions later. It was easier for him to fight mercilessly than it was for him to contemplate emotions.

His body fell into the blissful routine of kicks, punches, and dodges. When he fought, he focused only on his actions and the actions of the opponent at the moment and the future moves he would make. He couldn't think about things like the many deaths that he caused to the people around him. He couldn't' even feel sorry for the terrible things that he'd done in the past. He just fought.

The first guard who had the gun was a problem. Fang simply turned invisible and leapt to the left as the guard blindly shot at the spot where Fang had been a moment before. Fang had no intention of becoming visible once again, because it gave him a large advantage over his attackers. He threw blows with deadly precision, and the fearful guard blindly shot in the air.

Fang smirked amidst the brawl. The guard was a complete novice fighter. He might have been able to hold his own against a puny human; for he was large and muscular for a human, but against a mutant, he didn't have a chance. Especially a mutant with as much deadly skill as Fang. The man's insolence suddenly infuriated Fang even more. He could bully humans around and kill little girls with his gun, but without the gun and his brute strength, he was hopeless, worthless. Fang felt the weak human's bones crack beneath his kicks and the man's flesh was as easy to crush as wet bread beneath his fists.

The man fell, barely breathing on the floor and his eyes darted around in the air, terrified, looking for his invisible assailant. Fang became visible once more, and the man looked into Fang's depthless, cold eyes. The eyes of a fifteen year old boy who could be living a normal human life, if the whitecoats had simply chosen some other innocent infant to experiment on.

The man briefly noticed that he'd been whooped by a starved, thin, teenage boy who probably weighed a quarter of what he did. Then he remembered that the thing he was looking at wasn't a boy; it was a monster, a freak, a perversion of nature that some freak scientists cooked up in their little chemistry sets.

The man sneered at Fang, despite the fact that the man was beaten terribly. The man then promptly spit in Fang's face. Fang growled a terrible, animalistic, wolfish sound. He reached down and snapped the man's neck with one smooth, well-practiced stroke that invoked chills onto any onlooker. The snap of the man's neck reverberated through the room. The other guard, who had watched from the sidelines and unsure of what to do when fighting an invisible mutant, paled and fled the room.

Fang wiped the blood from his knuckles and walked soundlessly over to Ella's body. He could already tell that she'd lost too much blood. She was dead the instant the bullet had pierced her chest. But in one fluid motion, Fang picked Ella's small form up into his arms; much like a father would pick up a sleeping daughter. He'd never met her once, but he now owed her a great debt. One that he couldn't ever repay. He didn't know why he felt the inclination to take the body. She was gone, and there wasn't any use to take her with them. The body would only slow them down. Something in him, something very human, insisted that he couldn't leave the body there. Not there.

"Fang! Just Leave her." Dr. Martinez choked out. The sight of him carrying Ella's limp body was just too much. "Just leave her!" she shouted. Fang looked at her, with an apathetic expression that was eerie and infuriating at the same time. He knew that more guards would return and he had to get Dr. Martinez out of there.

Dr. Martinez couldn't ever remember feeling this crushed and ripped to shreds. Her daughter was dead, gone. She was only fourteen. Dr. Martinez couldn't see anything, because her vision was overrun with tears. She could no longer speak because of her sobs. She could no longer move because she'd collapsed on the floor. Fang looked at the broken woman on the floor and bolted to the van parked up front.

Fang slid the van door open and gently laid Ella's body across the seats. On an impulse, he lightly brushed her hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed, so it appeared that she was only sleeping. He sprinted off into the house. He didn't see any guards, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. They'd be back, with a lot of guns. He didn't care about dying, but Dr. Martinez couldn't die.

His bare feet didn't make a sound as he sprinted back inside the house. He ran into the dining room where Dr. Martinez was lying on the floor, crying more than he'd ever seen her. He reached down and dried to help her up, but she made no sign of having seen him. Fang, despite his currently abused and starved state, lifted up Dr. Martinez and draped her arm across his shoulders, like a soldier would carry a wounded comrade into safe territory.

Her feet dragged across the threshold of the front door, which was wide open. Fang grunted as he adjusted her arm, to keep her from sliding off and sliding onto the porch. She was a dead weight that Fang could have easily carried in his normal state, but he was gravely injured and still tired and starved from his horrible months at the School. His naturally tanned skin paled and he had sweat gathering on his brow. He gritted his teeth and dragged her as quickly as possible to the van. He placed her in the passenger seat, because she was in no condition to drive. It's not like he'd ever driven a car. He's had no freaking idea on how to drive a car. He'd never been conscious in one before. He'd have to wing it, no pun intended.

The keys were still in the ignition, because Dr. Martinez didn't have time to take them out when they'd first gotten there. He didn't know what to do.

"Wait." Dr. Martinez croaked. She had to help him. She would have to drive or they'd all die. Dr. Martinez got out of the car and made her way over to the driver's side. Fang crawled over to the passenger's side. Dr. Martinez started the car. Fang stared forward, his dark eyes seeming to stare a million miles off into the distance.

Dr. Martinez tried not to think about Ella. Ella would want her to get herself and Fang out; after all, she'd died to get them out of there. She suddenly floored the gas pedal and the tires skidded in place before propelling the car off in the direction of the road. Dust flew up from the gravel driveway in an opaque cloud of red.

She then jerked the steering wheel and the car squealed indigently in protest. Fang clutched the armrest of the seat as the car drove temporarily on its two left side wheels. He silently clenched his teeth as his stomach churned. He felt almost as nauseous as the time after he'd eaten that Eraser.

If he could read, he would have known that the car was going well over one hundred and thirty miles an hour. Who knew that a full size van could drive so fast?

The car sped down the old dirt road. Dr. Martinez planned on taking old back roads so that she could drive faster and avoid detection by cops and Jeb's goons. Dr. Martinez focused on the road and her plans to meet up with the Flock in Colorado. They had a small house built for them by the girl that had freed them from the school a few years back. She couldn't remember the woman's name. It was Suzanne or Leanne or something similar to that. She focused on trying to remember the first kind human that Iggy had the rest of the original Flock had ever known; anything to keep her mind off of Ella.

Fang felt liquid dripping down off of his skin underneath his shirt. He couldn't have been sweating that bad. He'd been in much wore fights and not even broken a sweat. He slowly lifted the corner of his t-shirt to find it soaked in blood. Some of the stitches in his side had torn free from the physical exertion. Fang quickly concealed his gore covered skin back up. He was silently grateful that his shirt was black; that way, it hid the crimson blood leaking from his veins. Dr. Martinez had enough to worry about, her dead daughter in the backseat the center of it all. He didn't want to steal the girl's mother attention yet again.

He grimaced at every bump in the road, each pothole jarring more bandages and stitches loose. He felt the broken bones in his wings slowly inching out of place; bone grating against bone. He was afraid that if he unclenched his jaw, an agonized howl might escape.

Dr. Martinez briefly took notice of Fang. He was pale and he was in pain. She would have given him a painkiller before they left the house, but he had needed to be vigilant in order to distract the guards long enough for the Flock and himself to exit the building. She silently regretted it. She'd seen that he'd purposefully cornered himself in that room, letting everyone else escape, but leaving himself behind to be massacred. She didn't honestly know why he would purposefully die. He was the most skilled fighter that she'd ever seen. He could have easily taken down those guards and joined them in the getaway vehicle. He had too many fractures in his wings to fly off with the others.

It couldn't have anything to do with what he and Max fought over, could it? Dr. Martinez was troubled. The van sped at a hundred miles an hour going through state borders and careening through winding obscure roads; paved and unpaved.

After a good five hours of reckless driving, Dr. Martinez slowed down and entered a small town in the middle of nowhere. She could conclude by the vast fields of crops and the large red barns popping up every few miles that they were in a farm town. She was hoping for a rest stop and a gas station. The tired van chugged to a stop at a small gas station in the busiest road in town, which is to say, it had two cars parked in the nearby produce stand parking lot.

"Okay, Fang. Stay in here. I'll be back soon." Dr. Martinez said, enunciating words slowly and praying that he understood her. Fang looked at her, his obsidian eyes like endless, starving black holes, hungering but never full, revealing the empty abyss that resided inside.

She unlocked the trunk and pulled out a hoodie that she'd meant to donate to charity. It didn't really look all that great on her and there was a stain on it, but it would cover up her blood covered t-shirt.

She took out the keys and locked the doors to the van as she walked into the store. She paid for a full tank of gas and bought an arsenal of snacks and a few bottles of Gatorade. She knew that Fang had never drunk anything but water in his entire life. She figured that the new type of beverage might make him feel a little better. She went up to the bored looking Indian man working at the register, and paid for everything in cash. He didn't even blink at the vast array of snack foods that she'd just purchased, so she assumed that weary travelers stopped by there and replenished frequently.

When she got back into the car, Fang wasn't in the front seat.

_Fang couldn't figure out the locks, could he? He's never even been awake in a car until now! _She thought franticly. She ran over to the van, hoping for some sign as to where he'd gone. Dr. Martinez looked through the window and down at the passenger's side seat. She only saw a large bloodstain on the tan seat.

Dr. Martinez feared the worst. He'd been abducted by Jeb's goons and killed, his body to be experimented on and dissected. There was so much blood…

She glanced towards the backseat, to where Ella's body lied still. If Jeb had taken her daughter's body, that would be the last straw. He'd already taken her daughter's life. He would not take her body away as well.

She saw Fang sitting on the edge of the seat, adjusting a blanket over Ella's body with her head peeking out. He brushed her hair away from her face. Dr. Martinez was very confused. Why would he do that? He'd never been taught to respect the dead by any means, and he didn't even know Ella. Yet he'd made her look like she was merely sleeping. It was brilliant, of course, that way if they were pulled over, all of the blood was covered and Ella appeared to be asleep.

She stared at him curiously for a moment. His face seemed almost at peace. He then caught sight of her watching him in his peripheral vision and jumped a bit. It was a bit amusing to startle him, but the placid look on his face vanished and because hard, cold and brooding by default.

He stumbled over to console into the front seat. Then Dr. Martinez wondered, _If he isn't shot, then where is all that blood coming from?_

She opened the passenger door with a click on her car remote and Fang stiffened. She slowly extended her arm so she wouldn't startle Fang into reflexively defending himself and snapping her in half. He eyed her, almost warily, as she gently picked up the hem of his black t-shirt. She was horrified to feel it soaking wet. She looked at her hand and it was red from where she'd touched his shirt; red with blood. Some of the stitches must have come undone either during the car ride or during fighting. He had made no reaction to suggest that he'd been slowly bleeding out.

Dr. Martinez cursed as she'd raced towards the driver's wheel, slamming Fang's door shut behind her. She took off into the road and got miles away from town. She went off road and through a tractor path around the edge of a cornfield. She then drove a ways into the woods, dodging large shrubs and trees. It was terrifying because she was going so fast. She then halted the vehicle in a small clearing. There were no people around her to see her patching up a gravely wounded Avian-human who couldn't speak a word of English. That would require a bit of explaining.

She quickly popped open the trunk and emptied it of the umbrella and a bag of clothes that she'd meant to give to the local charity organization, but never got to it. She kept the pile of blankets that she stored in the back for long road trips and such. She quickly laid out a blanket in the large trunk space. She led Fang to the trunk, gently nudging him to get into the trunk.

_All I need is some duct tape, some rope, and a gun and I could be a kidnapper. _Dr. Martinez thought dryly as she herded Fang into the trunk.

She got him to lie flat on his back, which bird-kids disliked because it crushed their wings. Fang's wings were already broken, so she felt a huge pang of sympathy as he gritted his teeth in pain. Any normal human kid would have been crying out or shrieking in pain if forced to endure the same amount of pain. He had developed a higher tolerance for pain that anyone else that she'd ever met; even Max. No one should have to become immune to so much pain, much less endure it.

She pulled out her medical bag, which seemed to be used so much these past few days.

She snatched the Gatorade out of one of the bags from the roadside convenience store and a dose and a half of painkillers from her glove box.

She rushed back over to Fang, who was slowly starting to drift off. He'd lost so much blood, that if he fell asleep, it would be ferociously unlikely that he'd ever wake up. She whipped out her sewing needle and medical thread. She grimly acknowledged that she'd gotten much better at sewing stitches over the past few days.

She lifted Fang's shirt up and saw that quite a few stitches had been unceremoniously ripped from place and his entire torso was now painted with blood. He almost looked like one of those crazy football fans who painted themselves entirely in their team's colors. Unfortunately, Fang wasn't covered with body paint. She quickly made Fang swallow the painkillers and he was visibly put at ease within ten minutes. He'd downed the whole bottle of Gatorade, and once she was done, she would give him her bottle as well. She could drink water.

She'd finished up the stitching. The only downside to the painkillers was that it would make Fang even drowsier. She got him to his feet and led him to the front seat again. If she got him eating, that would keep him occupied and prevent him from falling asleep. Then, she'd have to make a stop at a coffee shop and get him a triple shot espresso to keep him awake. Anything to keep him from dying. She opened a bag of chips and gave it to Fang. He'd never eaten anything like chips before, so Dr. Martinez ate one so he knew that they were safe to eat.

Dr. Martinez almost cried out in fright when she heard a short burst of a song emanating from her pocket. It was her cell phone, of course. She was on edge from this whole experience. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. The screen showed that it was Ella calling. It was really Iggy calling. They'd given him Ella's phone to use in case something came up. The sight of Ella's name on her ID made her want to crawl into a dark room and cry until the end of time, but there wasn't time for that.

"Iggy?" Dr. Martinez said softly. Fang watched her intently, while eating his chips.

The line was fuzzy, but she could make out that the Flock had made it to the cabin safely. He then asked her how thing were on her end. Dr. Martinez tried to control herself, but it was too much. She cried into the phone, her words barely understandable. She told Iggy that Ella had died and that Fang was close to bleeding out again. The call signal was lost before she could finish though. She didn't know how much Iggy had understood.

After that, she took off. It would only be a few more hours until they reached Colorado. Fang ate the chips in record timing. It was kind of funny to see him with all this new food after months of living off of barely anything. They crossed the Arizona border and entered into Colorado. Iggy had given them directions to the house where the Flock was practically raised.

It would be on top of a mountain, in an old, abandoned house. Iggy had said that there was no electricity or water, because after Anne had taken them away from the School, they would be looking all over the world for even slightly suspicious lodgings. The water and power bills would be too easily traced. They would have been caught. Even after the big mutant bust and the School was supposedly closed down, there would still be School supporters and others who would kill them or use them for their own selfish desires. They had to stay underground. Despite the fact that they had to use a water pump and a water purifier to get a glass of water or the fact that they used solar panels that were cleverly hidden to power the necessities like a refrigerator, Iggy had spoken of the place with a strange fondness, and once again, Dr. Martinez marveled at these remarkable kids.

If only the other kids would appreciate life and luxury like the Flock did. They were happy to be free and alive and have enough food. Pretty much everyone else took stuff like that for granted.

She snapped out of her musings long enough to glance at Fang, who was intently studying a pretzel. She stifled a laugh at the scene. She noticed the quietness of the car and debated on whether or not to put on any music. She didn't want to spook him; he'd only heard music while he did his shows with Max at the park. She didn't want to bring back any bad memories. However, the music at the park was always instrumental. The radio played lyrical music though, so she figured it would be okay. It would be a good distraction; anything to keep her mind off of Ella.

She reached for the volume dial and turned the sound up. As the music played from the speakers, Dr. Martinez slowly recognized it. Tears blurred her vision until she could barely see the road anymore. A broken sob escaped her lips. Ella, Ell, her poor, sweet Ella. This was one of Ella's favorite songs. Dr. Martinez knew that for certain. She'd heard it a million times from Ella's iPod speakers and every time it came on the radio, Ella blasted it as loud as it could go. It was a bright and peppy song, about first loves and first dates, but it was overwhelmingly depressing to her ears.

Fang's eyes darted over to her. He wore an almost guilty expression at the sight of her tears. He reached over and turned the radio off, only able to do so because he'd seen how to turn it on. She looked over at him. These were some smart kids. If he had his IQ tested, it would probably be off the charts. Even though they didn't know how to read or speak in any language known by humans, they were brilliant. Intelligence wasn't measured in how many complicated math problems you can solve or how many vocabulary words you can memorize of whether or not you can tell someone how photosynthesis works in the leaf of a plant. True intelligence is knowing what to do in the proper situation, is knowing when to be strong and when they can break down, is perceiving why a person feels the way that they do based on the circumstances, and coming up with clever solutions to problems. Memorized facts can only take you so far. True intelligence will get you through life, even when it is as difficult as the life of a runaway Avian-human hybrid.

He then surprised her even more when he tilted the bag of pretzels towards her, as if offering her some. She would have laughed in better circumstances. Here's this poor, starved, and gravely wounded male teenage mutant, and he's offering her, a crying woman that he barely knew, his pretzels, as if that would make it all better. It was so self-sacrificing of him that it was heartbreaking. That is, if there was any heart left in her that wasn't already broken.

She reached into the bag, and took out a small handful of pretzels. She gave him a small, motherly smile through her tears. His mouth tilted up in a miniscule, barely perceptible smile. It was gone in a moment, like it had never even happened, but it was the most display of affection that she'd ever seen him display towards anyone but Max.

They were in the mountains of Colorado now, slowly driving in a spiral on top of one of the shorter mountains. At the top of the mountain is where the house would be. The road went around the mountain in a swirl, and it wasn't even paved. Dr. Martinez drove fast, and the bumpy, steady loops were making Fang's stomach turn. He would not throw up. He wouldn't. He'd actually eaten something today and he didn't want to surrender it so easily.

Dr. Martinez saw his nausea and immediately slowed down. The poor boy had been through enough. He didn't need carsickness to be added to his list of woes for the day.

He looked visibly relieved at the reduced speed.

The van finally reached the peak of the mountain, and it turned into the path that led up to the house. Dr. Martinez slowly halted the van up near the entrance of the house. The Flock was waiting for them. None of them seemed happy. They were all at various stages of distress. Iggy was biting his lip and standing rigidly, like a pole was duct taped to his spine. Nudge was shifting anxiously, constantly pacing and shifting positions; not to mention the fact that she was talking at a million miles an hour, like an auctioneer. Gazzy's eyes followed the van and he seemed to be breathing hard. Angel had already read Dr. Martinez's mind at this point, and was already bawling. Max stood still. Her eyes deep brown pools of loss and regret.

Dr. Martinez opened her door and unlocked Fang's door. She walked around and opened Fang's door for him, considering the fact that he had yet to master the art of car door opening. Fang got out of the van and stared up at the Flock, the only other people on the planet who were like him. Yet none of them really understood him. And only one of them loved him. Or, had loved him at one point. He still loved Max though, and nothing would change that.

The Flock all looked at him through eyes that held barely concealed tears. No one made any moves to greet him. And why should they? He didn't deserve them. He would have been killed back at the mutant fighting ring. He deserved that fate. Now, because of him, they were all miserable. He slowly walked towards the surrounding woods. The view from the mountaintop was incredible, he noted. He could see for miles and miles. He couldn't even spot another house. There were trees everywhere. He would pick one to sleep in tonight. He was positive that no one would want him in the house after this whole fiasco.

He heard approaching footsteps behind him, running footsteps muffled by the grass. He prepared to be yelled at and hit. He deserved every bit of it. He stopped. He just wanted to get this over with so that he could sleep. He was so tired.

There was a hand on his shoulder.

"Just where do you think you're going?" a familiar voice asked brusquely. He slowly turned around to see the beautiful, tearstained face of Maximum Ride. She raised an arm, like she was winding up to slug him. He closed his eyes.

Max muffled a sob. Then, she embraced him fiercely. He was shocked. His eyes flickered open. He inhaled her wonderful, familiar scent that he could never get enough of. He felt her gentle touch on his back, and slowly wrapped his arms around her as well.

"When Dr. Martinez called, she said that someone was dead! That you bled out! I would have never told you that I'm sorry! I'm sorry for saying that stuff. I'm sorry! Please don't go again!" Max said in a choked up voice.

"But you were right." Fang replied. "I am a monster."

"No!" Max snapped. "You are _you._ The whitecoats may have screwed with your DNA, but you are a victim, not a monster. They are the monsters."

Fang looked at her. The sheer sadness in his endless black eyes sucked the air out of her lungs.

"You didn't choose for any of that to happen. None of it was your fault. Please, please believe me. Don't blame yourself for all of this." Max said softly. They were still wrapped in an embrace, but a loose one, their noses barely touching. Max desperately wanted to tell him that she loved him, but for some reason, there was no Avian equivalent to the word 'love'. She would have to tell him another way.

Max stood on the tips of her toes, tilted her head up, and kissed him. Fang's eyes widened a bit, but he slowly melted into a feeling of bliss that he hadn't felt in the longest time.

Max and Fang quickly ceased kissing as they heard Dr. Martinez sobbing. They turned their heads over to see her carrying Ella's dead body under a blanket. The Flock cried with her and they all stood where they were, unable to move. DR. Martinez brought the body into the house. The Flock slowly walked into the cabin, stunned into a dumb zombie-like state. Ella, the wonderfully nice girl who's always helped them and played games with them and shared her things with them and was so incredibly sweet and funny… was dead.

Max and Fang were the only ones left outside. They clung to each other like their lives depended on it; holding on to each other while the universe was falling apart.

**I can't even begin to apologize for updating so late. I FINALLY got out of school for the summer, so none of that crap will interrupt my writing ever again. I had most of this chapter written weeks ago, but it was saved on a flash-drive and lost. I found it, under the couch. I totally don't deserve your reviews. **


	29. With Death, There is Life

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: In Death, There Is Life**

**I dedicate this chapter to Birdwatched, who is my muse and to Sierra156, who lit my soul alight with her review. **

The funeral took place in the backyard. There was no minister, no solid oak casket, no expensive flower arrangements or formal attire. There wasn't even a certificate of death.

Ella was buried at sunset, in a small grave dug by hand. All the Flock members pitched in. Gazzy and Fang dug the hole. Iggy and Max made the casket out of plywood. Nudge and Angel made arrangements of wildflowers that they'd picked from the woods nearby.

They'd cleaned Ella up, and to cover her bloodstained clothes, they'd covered her with dozens of flowers. The flowers were weaved into her dark hair and a bouquet of the most exquisite flowers that they could find were placed in her cold hands. Her eyes were closed gently, and her lips were pursed in a perfect pout. She looked like a sleeping goddess, ready to rise up and take her place among the heavens.

Everyone helped carry the casket over to the grave, where it was slowly lowered into the ground. They gently laid the lid on Ella, and they all watched, muffling their cries, as Ella's beautiful, sleeping, deathly pale face felt sunlight for one final time.

Iggy was the first to say his final goodbyes.

"Ella was the nicest human I've ever met. She let us into her home; even when she had never even met us before. Even when she found out that we were… different, she didn't freak out or tell us to leave. She helped me with the younger kids. She didn't pity me or try to do everything for me because I was blind and raising a Flock of kids. She accepted me, accepted us, for who we were. She told me funny stories, and best of all she _listened_. She listened to the complaints of a blind teenage freak. I'll never forget her for all that she's given me, and my friends." Iggy said. "If only she knew exactly what she'd meant to us."

He didn't sound like he was giving a funeral speech; like the ones you would see on TV, where they are solemn, still, stiff, and formal. Iggy stood there, his back bent, shuffling his scuffed and bloodstained sneakers. His sightless blue eyes were bloodshot. Saying that his hair was a mess would be putting it mildly. His clothes were tattered and stained beyond recognition. He looked like he'd been through a war. His voice was soft, as if telling someone that he'd loved them for the first time.

Iggy choked back a sob. He felt totally and completely responsible for this catastrophe. Ella would have never died if he'd left the Martinez's right after they'd gotten Max. Better yet, if they'd never come at all. She would probably be in school. Heck, she might be hanging out with a boyfriend. Her life was _over_ because he'd been around her.

Nudge took a step towards him. She saw now that she was an idiot for telling Iggy how she felt about him so soon. He was a broken mess. She'd almost never seen him cry before. This whole incident with Ella had revealed the shattered boy below the tough exterior. She wanted so badly to embrace him and make him feel like everything would be alright again. But she wouldn't, because it wouldn't help either of them out. Now wasn't the place and it definitely wasn't the time.

Then, she spoke.

"Ella was my best friend. I've never been close with a human before. She was so nice to me. She let me borrow her clothes, her magazines, we painted each other's nails, we did each other's hair, we gave each other makeovers," Nudge sobbed uncontrollably and a moment later, she regained her composure, her voice began unsteadily. "It was like I had another sister. She was my sister. Just because we weren't related, that didn't have anything to do with it! We may have not gotten off to the grandest of starts, but we talked everything out, like sisters should, and we were okay. She told me jokes and stories and made me feel like for once in my life, that I was a _normal kid_ and no one has ever done that for me before no matter how much I wished that they would! Ella, she was more than a friend to me. She was more than a person who was sharing her house with me for a little while. She was part of my family, and she made me feel like I was a part of hers too."

Everyone stared at their feet. For once, Nudge's prattling wasn't cut off or ignored. In fact, it wasn't prattling at all. It was a beautiful speech. As they said their farewells to Ella, they were learning more about each other. Well, except for Angel, who knew all those things from reading their minds constantly, but it was a different thing entirely to hear it from their mouths, for the whole world to hear.

Gazzy was the next to speak. His little blue eyes were spilling over with tears. He was a tough little trooper when he needed to be, but seeing someone that you were familiar with, someone who you would call your friend, someone who you'd talked to that very morning, die; that was enough to push an eight year old boy to tears.

His voice was choked up with emotion, but he managed to croak out a fitful speech.

"Ella was a very nice girl. She was nice to me and gave me her old games and taught me how to play them. She didn't get mad at me, even when I accidentally blew up her phone." Gazzy hiccupped; with tears spilling down his face at such a rapid speed, that he couldn't see. "She laughed and said that she didn't like her old phone very much anyways. One of the buttons was busted. She was the funnest girl I've ever met; she played tag and stuff pretty well, for a girl. She was kinda pretty too." Gazzy finished his speech blushing, and if anyone were in a better mood, they would have cracked a smile. But not today. Not for a long time.

Angel had tried to be brave, to be strong for everyone like Iggy had taught her to, but everyone was so sad the only thing that she could think, breathe or see was the utter depression radiating off of everyone. It overwhelmed her.

"Ella was sweet and smart and she cared for every one of us. In the end, we were like family to her. She was my family, like Nudge said. I wasn't a mutant living on the run anymore. I was like one of the girls on TV making crafts with her older sister, like nothing was wrong with me. She gave us everything that she could, because secretly, she'd always wanted brothers and sisters too." Angel said tearfully. Dr. Martinez stifled many sobs at this news. Iggy wanted to intervene, to tell Angel that now wasn't the time to reveal Ella's secrets. But now was the perfect time. To let the secrets be told now before Ella was underground. Then she would truly be gone.

Her sweet, cherubic face was marred by red splotches from tears. Her hair looked like a mad blow-dryer had gotten its way with it. She was too young to have to deal with any of this, she was the most innocent of them all, even with her mind-reading powers, but now she'd personally witnessed death, and felt it all around her. She never even knew what death was like, since she was pretty much a baby when Anne had died. Now her six-year old hands were stained with blood, because after reading Iggy's mind, she knew that Ella's death was their fault.

"Ella got the brothers and sisters that she always wanted. And we all got another sister too. She was one of us. She will always be one of us." Angel finished. It was quiet for a moment. The crickets began chirping in the many trees around them. The sun was finally set behind a large mountain and a small rim of red light was the last remnants of the day.

Max spoke next. She was next to Fang, naturally. She was grasping onto his hand tightly, turning his pale knuckles white. He didn't mind. He hardly felt pain anymore. A person could reach a certain amount of pain before he stopped feeling anymore. He had long past that point.

Max's face was striped with salty tear trails. She held back most of the tears, only allowing the occasional straggler to slip away. Ella had taught her so much, more than she'd originally realized. She never gave that poor girl credit for anything besides sharing her house with them.

"Ella and I shared a house for a while, but we shared a mom for the longest. Dr. Martinez was our mom; her mom in blood and my mom in everything but blood. Her mom would leave her and come to me. When she left me, she would come home to Ella. So we were sisters. It wasn't fair, that her mom spent so much time with me and not with Ella, her _real_ daughter. She should have hated me for that. But Ella was so nice to me when we first met. A little shocked, but not mad." Max took a deep breath, holding all of her tears back now. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't choke.

"I was terrible those first few weeks; to her and everyone else. I was too busy thinking about Fang that I couldn't see all the other people around me, and how they were my new family. I was too stubborn to see that you didn't want me to replace Fang; you just wanted to give me more family to hold on to. But slowly, I saw her, my sister in all but blood. I saw her when she tried to tech me English, when she moved over on the couch so I could sit next to her and watch TV. I started to realize that I wasn't alone anymore; not at all. I had the Flock, who was just like me, and there was Ella, who was almost nothing like me, but she wanted to get to know me anyways. She taught me how to make bacon, or she tried to." The faintest of smiles brushed Max's lips before disappearing again. She resumed speaking.

"Ella slowly became tolerable, then she became respected, then she became admired, then she became my friend, and finally, it was clear that she was my sister all along. Ella has taught me one thing above all others. Family has nothing to do with blood. Relatives can't be chosen, but friends can, and they are your real family. I don't know who my blood relatives are, and I don't care. I have my family here with me today, while we gather to bury a fallen sister, and a loved daughter." Max finished. There was another pregnant pause, where the night creatures' chorus gained volume. Max made a terrible squeaking noise, like muffled sob. It felt like an Eraser was clawing into Fang's chest. The small squeak from Max was worse than hearing her sob in agony. He gently caressed her hand with is thumb, not breaking their intertwining hands.

Fang had so much that he wanted to say to this girl, but he could only speak in Avian, and since the funeral was being spoken in English for Dr. Martinez's sake, he decided to remain as quiet and strong as a stone. It also felt right for the whole funeral to be spoken in English. Ella had spoken English her whole life and if she was listening from beyond, at least she would understand what they were saying.

Dr. Martinez could have spoken on for hours, but she could not talk that long. She would be brief and to the point.

"Ella was as perfect of a daughter as a mother could ask for. She did well in school, she had good friends, but most of all, she had a wonderful heart, that shined through even in her last minutes. If she were here, I would just want to tell her how proud I am of her, and how much I love her." Dr. Martinez said in a wavering voice. They each, one by one, threw a white rose into Ella's grave.

The sun was now fully set and the full moon had risen. Stars came into view, more stars than Max or Fang had ever seen; the pollution from the city had clouded most of them. Iggy and Max stayed behind to cover the coffin with dirt, making it completely buried. Dr. Martinez swore that she would plant some jasmine above Ella's grave, because jasmine flowers were Ella's favorite. She'd always worn jasmine scented perfume. That way, Ella would live on.

It didn't take the bird-kids long to finish burying the casket. Fang, who had patiently waited for Max, walked Max up to the front door. Iggy had quickly walked past them silently the moment the final shovel full of dirt had been placed in the hole.

Max walked inside. Fang knew that she needed solitude, but he did as well. It was yet another thing that they had in common. They faced problems together, but sometimes they had to mourn their losses alone for a while. He would go back and see how she was later.

He walked down the moonlit path to the freshly covered grave. He stood there, quietly. He feared nothing in the woods, even though he was completely alone after nightfall. He was much scarier than anything in these woods.

Although he stepped on a gravel-like turf filled with crunchy dead leaves, his steps made no sound. The sun was completely gone and the millions of stars began to shine. He looked unblinkingly at the moon, rising large and pale and at its fullest.

He treaded deeper into the forest, and more and more brooding thoughts fought for his attention. He thought about young Ella, who he'd never even properly met, and how she was now dead and buried all because of him. He thought of what the whitecoats did to him during those months that Max was gone from the Aviatory; all those terrible surgeries and tests that he'd endured through. He remembered the utter helplessness and fury that he'd felt when the remote controlled his actions and even his thoughts. He thought of the utter grief on Dr. Martinez's face and on everyone else's face and felt numbing pain because Ella was much more important than he'd ever realized. Her death tortured him even more than the deaths of all the other mutants that he'd been forced to kill back in his days at the arena did. He didn't even physically kill Ella. She'd just died for him. Somehow, that made it even worse. Out of all the ghosts that haunted him, hers would always be the clearest and the one that wounded him the most.

Finally, he thought of Max; and of what he'd been forced to do to her. He hadn't really understood the whole reproduction concept until Max explained it to him, but even he grasped the magnitude of it. He knew what it was like to suffer in the School, and he wouldn't wish it on anybody, especially a child that he'd fathered. He especially didn't want to put Max through something like that. They had a lot of problems as it was. Adding a little avian/lupine/human baby to their list of worries would bring everyone to their breaking points. And the fact that he'd unintentionally made it possible for that poor baby to come into being sucked for everyone.

He bitterly noted that he wouldn't want a baby anyways. He wouldn't give his mangled DNA to any living being. Being two percent Avian was bad enough. Adding a mystery amount of lupine DNA to that genetic screwball was even worse.

He hoped that Max would understand his reasoning. Then again, Max wanted what she wanted. And if she wanted it, she almost always got it. He almost smirked at the memory of her sheer stubbornness. Almost.

He kicked a stone down the mountain. All the more terrible thoughts flooded towards him, and it felt like the dam of his tired, scared, frustrated, angst-filled, pain-filled, and grieving emotions finally crumbled. He was alone, so he was more vulnerable to the tidal wave of emotions. He refused to let himself shed tears, though. He never would let that much of his pride go. Instead, he ran deeper into the darkened forest. Down the mountain he went, sharp branches cutting at his exposed arm flesh, but he didn't care.

Finally, he reached a spot far enough away from the house. He slowly reached into the pocket of his tattered jeans, revealing the sleek black remote that controlled every aspect of his Eraser-self. He never thought that he would purposefully make himself morph into the hideous monster side of him that he was so ashamed of, but he was alone, so he could reveal what he really was in the empty woods. He groaned as his bones reshaped themselves and elongated. He felt a burning itchy sensation as slick black fur grew from his skin at a rapid pace, like a time lapse video of a plant growing put into fast-forward. He noticed that his black fur glinted purple in the light of the full moon, just like his wings did. He felt his ears grow fuzzy and taper to points and he clenched his jaw as his whole face reshaped itself. He was overcome like he usually was with overly heightened senses of a wolf. His already great night vision was enhanced further and his ears swiveled at every detailed sound the critters in the woods made. He could smell every tree within miles. Finally, his claws sprouted from his fingertips and his teeth reformed into fangs.

He was an Eraser once more. However, for once, he was in complete control of himself and not in constant fear of what he was going to be forced to think and do next. He controlled his destiny now. He was still tall and very thin, like his bird-kid self always was, but he was more muscular and denser boned than he ever was as an avian-human alone.

He tilted his snout up towards the lone moon and in the dark of the night, he let all of his emotions out in one, long, pained howl. He would've felt stupid normally, but all he could think about was releasing his sorrows, and for once, it seemed like the whole world could hear and understand him.

His mournful cry was beautiful, and didn't sound human at all. It was pure wolf, and it was like a feral, untamed, but strangely beautiful solo. Back up at the cabin, while the whole house, bird-kid and human alike, mourned the loss of Ella and felt miserable in general, they heard the breathtaking, wordless serenade from the woods outside. Each member of the household silently gathered at the nearest window or door to hear it better.

The howl sent automatic chills down everyone's spine, especially the mutants, because they all learned to loathe the sound of an Eraser's howl. This, however, didn't sound like an Eraser's howl.

Eraser's howls were brimming with raw hunger, hate and had a grisly sound to it. This new howling was filled with all the emotions that everyone was feeling, and this was somehow all communicated without a single word being uttered. They all no longer felt alone, but united somehow, by that wild song.

Fang didn't shed a single tear as he poured out the heaviness of his soul into his chilling howls. It was somehow fitting, that for once, his wolfish features weren't being using for slaughter; they were being used to help repair something instead.

Nudge and Iggy were together by a glass window pane at the end of the one small hallway they had. Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, were looking out the window in Angel and Nudge's room, since Gazzy didn't have a window after all the times that he'd blown the glass out of the one in his room. It had finally just been boarded up. Dr. Martinez was huddled by the window in the living room/kitchen/dining room. Max was in the guest bedroom.

Nudge spoke during a pause between the outlandish howls.

"Iggy, are there wolves in here?" Nudge said in a voice barely above a whisper. She had a fleeting suspicion on what was causing the howls. It couldn't possibly be an Eraser from the School and she'd never heard a wild wolf howl in the mountains as long as she'd lived there.

"No. They all died out." was his hushed reply. In the deepest, darkest part of his heart, as shattered as it was, Iggy felt a little bit of begrudging respect towards Fang, and a bit sorry for him. He wasn't planning on hugging the guy anytime soon, and Fang would probably bite his head off if he tried to hug him. Fang would bite anyone but Max's head off for hugging him. But slowly, maybe, Iggy was starting to forgive Fang; for everything. Because even if Fang didn't share his outward emotions or thoughts at all, the howling proved that he felt like the rest of them did, and it somehow made them all feel closer.

Max sat alone in the guest room, which would undoubtedly become her and Fang's room. While they were waiting for Fang and Dr. Martinez to arrive in the van hours before, Max had argued with Iggy over the living arrangements. Max insisted that she and Fang shared a room. She'd gone far too long without him and had slept terribly if not at all without him, and she refused to do it again. Iggy argued in reply that Fang would be one door down sleeping with the rest of the guys in the boys room, while Max would be sleeping with Angel and Nudge in the girls room. Iggy stated that not only would it be a bad example to the other kids, to whom he still firmly enforced the separation of boy and girl sleeping quarters, but they only had one empty bedroom left, Anne's old room, that should be used for Dr. Martinez's room. Dr. Martinez had done far too much for them, and she deserved her own room after all that had happened. It was the least that they could do. Max, being the most stubborn avian-human hybrid to walk the earth, won the argument and successfully gave Iggy a killer migraine.

Max recognized the deep, baritone voice immediately, but she could hard believe That Fang was the one making actual loud noises. On top of that, they were so striking in an untamed, raw sensation filled way that it struck her very core.

One final, sonorous note echoed through the mountains, and then there was silence. Suddenly, a very faint, distant howl echoed across the mountains. Then another one sounded off from the mountain east of them. Iggy and nudge looked at each other. Nudge looked fearful.

"Is it them? The Erasers? What if they find us? We don't have anywhere else to go!" Nudge whispered in one frantic breath.

"It's not. Its wolves. Real ones. I never even knew they lived around here. I guess they're not all gone from here." Iggy said, smiling faintly.

It was true; the Erasers weren't anywhere close to them. The new howls were definitely from wild wolves.

Down the mountain, Fang's ears twitched, almost curiously. It was funny how the howls from the wild wolves sounded so much more like him than the Erasers' howls ever did. Their howls were pure freedom and untamed feeling, not feral and furious and starving like the howls of the Erasers. It made Fang feel a tiny bit better; he felt that he was less monster than he previously thought. The wild wolves weren't monsters at all. They were wild, but like freedom incarnate. They killed because they had to and didn't harm unless it was necessary for their survival; much like himself.

He took in a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and ran up the mountain. He found it faster to run on all fours as an Eraser than it was for him to run as an Avian-human.

He didn't loathe his Eraser-self very much now that he was in control. He still needed the remote to morph and un-morph, but just because he looked like the rest of the Erasers, it didn't make him one of them. In fact, he was something else entirely. He was his own.

At the shrubbery surrounding the cabin, Fang unmorphed and shuddered from the pain of changing forms. Miraculously, the stitches in his side were still intact, save for one or two that had come, yet again, undone.

He walked into the house, barefoot as always. He figured out how to use the doorknob, after watching humans use them for as long as he could remember.

His muscles were trembling like they always did after changing forms so frequently. The old wooden cabin door squeaked as it closed. Fang noticed a bunch of metal contraptions were attached to the door; contraptions that he recognized from his days locked up in the mutant fighting ring. There were at least five different locks on the door, used as a last minute attempt to keep intruders, namely Erasers away. Fang knew from personal experience that the extra locks would only take a mere few seconds for an Eraser to break through. But a few seconds for a bird kid were more than enough to get away.

Fang somehow just knew where Max was in the small cabin. It was almost like a sixth sense, like if she were lost in a city a thousand miles away, he could find her.

Fang walked really quietly, even for a bird kid, so he startled Max when he suddenly appeared in her doorway.

Max's head whipped around to look at him, her golden brown hair swishing, and then promptly whacking her in the face. Max scrunched her nose up and spit out a lock of hair that had gotten into her mouth.

Seeing Max, the old Max, for that one brief moment, made Fang feel like none of this new drama had ever happened. He felt like he was beck at the Aviatory with only him and max, performing shows during the day and spending all of their free time together. Just being themselves and no one else. Back when the world was so much simpler.

Max saw the small, miniscule smile on his face and her heart sped up. It was the closest thing she'd seen to a real smile on him ever since she saw him alive again at her return to the Freak Fest Park.

That flicker of a smile was like a candle in the pitch black to Max. Depression surrounded her like a dense fog. But then there was Fang. He was in the fog too, God, he was more depressed than she was. She knew that he still blamed himself for what the whitecoats made them do, for what those monsters made him do while he was under the control of that remote, he was like putty in their hands, but under no fault of his own.

However, when they were together, the darkness seemed less foreboding and suffocating. When they were together, the sadness was still there, but they sometimes could momentarily forget it and sometimes even breathe.

Max stood up, and quietly walked over to Fang. He stared at her with his depthless dark eyes. He was a little unsure of what she was about to do.

Then, Max was right in front of him, face to face; close enough to see even the minutest details of the other's face.

Suddenly, she leaned forward, and practically fell onto him, hugging on to him. Max squinted her eyes, trying to keep more tears at bay. In the warmth of him and in the power of his embrace, she felt her worries lessen, if only by a little.

"I love you." Max whispered, in English. For reasons unknown to her, there was no natural word for 'love' in the Avian language. At least, not the kind of love that she felt for Fang.

Fang pulled back a bit, so that he could look into her caramel brown eyes once again.

"I don't understand." He said quietly. His face and his eyes revealed nothing, as apathetic as ever.

"You don't know now." Max said in Avian; she spoke into his ear, pulling him closer once again. "But you will. And until then, I'll show you."

Fang kissed her on the side of her neck, and she shuddered. Max turned her head slightly, so his next kiss landed on her mouth. The kiss wasn't passion filled or hot and heavy. It was quiet, melancholy, and connected the two by their common feelings of sorrow.

The kiss ended eventually, because even bird-kids need to breathe. Fang saw that Max looked exhausted, but was trying to be tough.

He gave her a small smile.

"Come on, let's get some sleep." Max was too tired to even argue.

"Well, if you're sleepy, I guess I'll go to sleep too." Max conceded as she trudged towards the queen sized bed. She sat down and a bit of dust billowed up from lack of use.

"Wait," Fang said. He hadn't moved from the spot where they'd kissed. Max looked up. Did he not want to sleep in the same room with her? Did he not trust himself around her? Was he not too afraid after what had happened in the School/ the park to even be tempted? Max looked at him, too tired and sad to be angry.

"Where is Dr. Martinez going to sleep?" Fang asked out of the blue. Max looked at him quizzically.

"She's going to sleep in the room that you walk into if you're coming in from outside. The other kids call it the 'living room'. That weird bed-looking thing in there's a couch. She'll sleep on that." Max replied.

Fang felt a pang of guilt, fresh guilt, this time. The lady who'd taken care of him and stitched him up and given him all that new food in the van and had lost her daughter because of him should be sleeping in her own room. He owed her that, and the rest of them did too.

"No." Fang said flatly. Max looked at him. Did he not _want_ to sleep on the bed? Did he not want to share a bed with her?

"Why not?" Max asked irritably. Her tiredness was making her lose her patience even faster than usual.

"She should get the bed. We could sleep on the couch. Unless you don't want to. Then I'll sleep somewhere else." Fang said. Max was more than irritable now. Fang usually went along with what she said, for the most part. But when he was stubborn, it was very difficult if not impossible to get him to change his mind.

"We'll argue tomorrow Fang, just please, let's go to sleep!" Max groaned as she fell backwards on the bed. She grabbed a pillow and covered her face. Deep down, she knew that he was right, and a part of her knew that the right thing to do was to give Dr. Martinez the bed.

However, Max was tired, hungry, depressed and crushed from the loss of Ella, guilt ridden because she knew that Ella's death was partially her fault, scared out of her mind because she might be pregnant now and she was sore in many places. She wanted a good night's sleep for a change.

"Her daughter died today Max. We buried her today. She drove my worthless skin all the way here. She even bothered to patch me up. She deserved the bed more than you and I do." Fang said in an eerily toneless voice. The hole of guilt in her chest doubled in size. Fang was right. She tried to convince herself that she would get a good night's sleep anywhere, as long as Fang was right next to her where he belonged.

Max moaned as she sat up and walked towards the door.

"The bed's covered in dust anyways. Come on, we'll see if I can figure out how to get it set up." Max sighed. She looked back at Fang curiously though. She expected him of all people to agree with her. He would want to stay in a nice cozy bed too. He had every right to. Instead, he gave it up to someone who he believed, had it worse off than he did.

He was, maybe, more human than she'd realized. More human than she was being.

Fang was silently glad that he didn't have to argue with Max for long about the sleeping arrangements. He somehow, knew that the right thing to do was to give the bed to Dr. Martinez. Maybe Ella's final act of selflessness had urged him to be more like her and less like a feral monster. Little did he know, but the impression that Ella made on him and his actions made him more human.

The pair made their way into the kitchen/living room/dining room. Dr. Martinez stood by the window, still staring out of it, with a glazed-over expression, a bit like the ones that Max and Fang wore when they were under the influence of that strong drug that was forced on them in the park.

Max let her be and decided to get to work on the couch. She didn't know how in the world it was supposed to 'open up to a bed' like Iggy said it would though. She would normally ask him for help, but she wanted to do it herself. Besides, Iggy wouldn't help her if she asked. He wouldn't be into the idea of helping her make a bed for her and Fang to sleep on together. After about ten minutes of her attempting to pull the couch out, Fang walked over towards her.

"I don't need your help, Fang! I can do it myself!" Max hissed. Fang paid her no mind and instead, went over to Dr. Martinez. He stood next to her. Max noticed just how much taller he was than Dr. Martinez. She was about five and a half feet tall while Fang was just over six feet. Fang gently took her by the hand and tugged her along towards the spare room. Dr. Martinez went along complacently, like a sheep being led to slaughter. He stopped at the doorway and nudged her in. She walked and stood by the window in the spare bedroom instead.

Fang walked back into the living room, where Max still tugged and pulled uselessly at the couch cushions.

Fang wordlessly plopped on the couch and pressed close to the back cushions leaving room for Max.

"You're kidding." Max said dryly. But she knew that Iggy wouldn't help her, and the silence in the rest of the house proved that everyone else was asleep, and they didn't dare bother Dr. Martinez. She deserved time alone. Max wouldn't complain further, though. Compared to where she could be and what she'd slept in before, this was as regal as a monarch's bed. There were cushions on the couch, she was indoors, she was free, and she was safe, for the most part. Most importantly, Fang was there with her.

Max laid down beside him and snuggled up against his chest. They had a lot of problems, but they were content at the moment. Max's eyes closed wearily and Fang sighed. He almost fell asleep, but Max, who was already fast asleep, shuddered with cold in her sleep. Fang shifted against the back of the couch, releasing on of his bandaged and broken wings. It felt like someone was taking lit matches to the injured places on his wings, but he managed to get it to wrap around Max like a cocoon.

Max murmured his name in her sleep. Notably happier than before, Fang fell into a blissful sleep; something of which he hadn't had for a really long time.

The days in the cabin blurred together into a haze of mixed emotions. The general mood was dejected at the loss of Ella, but the occasional joke slowly surfaced with time, and to keep everyone's mind off of things, the Flock began to teach Fang how to do normal things and be more human. Max took it upon herself to not only be the new leader among the Flock, but to make sure that Fang was taught everything that he needed to know. Mostly, she taught him many things, but she let the Flock pitch in as well. It was a great chance to get the Flock to know him a bit better and time to get Fang to trust them and know more about his new family as well.

Nudge, of course, was assigned to teach him how to talk, with Max's supervision of course. It was hard to lean a new language, but bird-kids were incredibly smart, Fang being exceptionally so. He picked up on the language quickly and was able to form short sentences within weeks.

Gazzy taught Fang skills of the pyromaniac sort. Fang wasn't really good at making bombs. Luckily, Max told Gazzy to start teaching Fang with a basic firecracker; otherwise the whole cabin would be blown to smithereens. It wasn't the bomb-building that Max really wanted Fang to learn from Gazzy. In reality, she wanted them to become friendlier with each other. Fang wasn't really the social type, but he warmed up to Gazzy and the rest of the Flock pretty well.

Angel was a very helpful teacher. She knew exactly what sort of things confused Fang and even though she found his mind strange and very different from the rest of the Flock's, she taught him exactly what he needed to know, and she clarified the things that confused him as best as she could, considering that she was only six.

Iggy taught Fang how to cook. It was tense in between them, but Max left those two alone when Iggy was giving his lessons. Her being around Fang tended to lead to minor bantering and flirting, which made Iggy all sorts of uncomfortable. She stayed close, so if a fight broke out, she would quickly be able to break it up. However, no fights between the two males erupted. The tension between the two of them really dissipated one day while Iggy was trying to teach Fang how to make breakfast; pancakes in particular.

"Don't let the pancake stay on one side for too long, otherwise it'll burn. You have to wait until it starts to bubble." Iggy instructed in Avian. All his lessons except for English were taught in Avian, normally. Fang looked at the starch white liquid batter lying in the frying pan. Not a single bubble appeared.

"How do you know if there are any bubbles? Since you can't…" Fang trailed off, almost awkwardly. His tone of voice seemed slightly awkward. Iggy smirked.

"So you think that because I'm blind, I can't cook?" Iggy said in a mock offended way. Fang's dark eyes narrowed.

"I never said that." Fang said in a low voice.

"Hey, don't take me too seriously. I'm just kidding." Iggy said lightly after sensing Fang's tension immediately.

Fang stared at the pancake, which had still failed to bubble.

"He doesn't know what kidding means." Angel chimed in from down the hall. She said it in English, but Fang still understood. After only three weeks of English lessons, starting on his first day at the cabin, he did an amazing job of keeping up with conversation. He probably learned so well because he had to think fast in order to keep a conversation with Nudge. Or at least, partially understand what she was saying. She talked so fast, it was hard for a native English speaker to understand what she was saying half of the time.

Iggy's smirk widened into a smile, his first real one in weeks.

"You don't know what kidding is, huh? Well, you've come to the right place! If you're about to get a sense of humor, you should learn from the best." Iggy said. "Kidding is when someone says something that they don't really mean."

"Like lying?" Fang said he sounded and looked as stoic as ever.

Iggy rolled his eyes out of habit.

"What does that mean?" Fang asked suddenly. Iggy looked at him, his eyes darting sightlessly towards the pancakes.

"What? The pancakes?" Iggy asked, his confusion evident.

"No, that thing you did with your eyes." Fang said.

"Oh, this?" Iggy said offhandedly, rolling his cloudy blue eyes again.

"Yeah."

"It's what people do when someone says something that's obvious."

"Huh."

"What?"

"It explains a lot. Max does it when she's talking to me sometimes."

Iggy laughed out loud, it sound echoing through the entire cabin. True laughter hadn't been heard in the longest time.

"You, my friend, are getting the hang of humor quite well! Or is it just irony?" Iggy said, still chuckling. Fang silently noted that he would ask what irony meant later when he saw that the pancake was bubbling profusely. If instant fear of burning his first pancake, he grasped the handle of the pan and jerked it sharply, sort of like Iggy had showed him.

The pancake went airborne, then promptly landed squarely on Iggy's face.

It was silent for a moment. Fang's heart raced. He clenched his fists. It was a shame if this broke out into violence, this kid was actually warming up to him and Fang was actually kind of enjoying a conversation with someone other than Max for a change. It was especially rare for things to be friendly between himself and Iggy. Fang didn't need to speak English to know that Iggy once had loved Max, and that part of Iggy still liked her more than a friend or brother would. Now their new truce was ruined all because Fang didn't know how to 'kidding' or cook.

Iggy peeled the pancake off of his face; the soft liquid batter side had unfortunately landed on his face, so there were beads of uncooked batter still dripping from his face. Fang tensed up even further, put the pancake revealed a grin on Iggy's face.

Fang was stunned, and Iggy began to howl with laughter.

The Flock curiously went to see what all the laughing was about. Max, being the most stunned of all. Laughter was the last thing that she expected to hear from the kitchen.

Iggy, of course, had heard them all come in.

"I've finally taught this boy something! The most useful skill of all; humor! He's a natural!" Iggy crowed. Fang looked at Iggy, his obsidian eyes glinting with curiosity. Iggy smiled at him genuinely and wiped some of the leftover batter off of his face with a finger, and then he promptly ate it.

"See? Humor!" Iggy said, still laughing. Fang was relieved that Iggy wasn't mad. He then saw that the rest of the Flock was laughing too, even Max. Then, Fang did something that surprised every one of the people in the house.

He laughed too, genuinely.

None of them had ever heard his laugh before, save for Max, who hadn't heard it for so long. They all looked at him, with elated surprise. He laughed with them now, so it was like he was officially one of them.

Fang taught them everything that he thought would be useful to them, like his expert fighting skills or his superb flying tricks, some of which, he could do better than Max, much to her irritation. It was a sort of repayment for all the things that they'd taught him.

A few more weeks passed after that, and Fang finally could speak English pretty much as well as Max, who could speak fluently save for a few advanced concepts and words. Everyone had noticed that their voices were much different when they spoke in the light, fluid chirping language of Avian. However, they didn't expect His voice to be as deep as it was when he spoke his first word in English. Ironically, it was 'Max'.

Fang still was extremely quiet; he almost never talked. But now he was no longer considered to be an outsider. He was genuinely considered to be a Flock member. Max and Fang did sleep on the couch, and never did anything more than make out, because if they pushed their romantic boundaries too far, it brought back terrible flashbacks of their experiences while under that nasty drug at the Freak Fest park. It sometimes left them uncomfortable with each other for hours, or even days at a time.

On one such day, after particularly vivid and disturbing flashbacks had plagued them the night before, Fang was avoiding Max.

He was sitting in the tallest branches of a pine tree near the house, staring listlessly at the mountains that expanded for as far as the eye could see.

He then heard a horrible retching sound not too far off. It didn't sound like any animal he'd ever heard. There was more hacking and retching. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was either dying or puking its entrails out.

Fang silently glided over to where the disgusting noises were coming from. His heart nearly stopped beating when he saw that it was Max. He dived towards the ground and swooped up at the last second for a first rate landing, like he was taught to for the shows at the park. Some of his better flying tricks, he kept using, despite where he learned them.

He sprinted over to Max. She was keeled over, throwing up into the bushes. His heart wrenched with terror and sympathy as he saw that she was sobbing at the same time. He leaned over and held her hair back. She coughed violently a few more times, and then moved on to full time, all out sobbing. Now, Fang was internally terrified, but he pulled her close, not caring if she had vomit on her or not.

He knew from both the vomiting and the sobbing that something was very, very wrong. Bird-kids never got sick unless they were dying. Well, not sick as in unhealthy. He'd almost thrown up while Dr. Martinez had sped around those mountains in the van taking him to the cabin for the first time, but that was different.

There was also the fact that Max was crying uncontrollably, which was just about as likely as a bird kid getting a cold.

"Max, what happened? What's wrong?" Fang asked softly, gently tucking her hair behind her ear. He successfully kept his hand from trembling.

"I… I th…think…that…I'm…. pppregnant!" Max cried into his black t-shirt.

**SO, I made it almost twice as long to make up for the terrible cliffy. I really appreciate every single one of your reviews from the last chapter! You make my writing worthwhile! I swear I won't leave you hanging for so long this time. I've got a lot of empty time on my hands now. Please review and make my hours at the keyboard worthwhile! As for the image for the story, I apologize, I'm not very artistically inclined when it comes to drawing and stuff. I needed something to use as a cover image. If you hate it too much, feel free to submit something to me. Colored is preferred. :D Comments appreciated! **


	30. A Promise

**Sorry it's been so long. I finished Nevermore. I am oddly at peace for the first time since FANG. At least I'm not staying up all night wondering if Max will screw up her life and end up with Dylan. Read and enjoy! **

**Freak Fest Chapter 30: Hold On**

Fang's heart felt like a cold, clawed hand was clenched around his jittery heart and was squeezing the life out of it.

"Are… are you sure?" Fang silently hated himself for showing his despair, shock, and overall terror like that when Max needed him to be the strong one.

Max's own heart was beating so fast that there was a fair chance it would burst. He could feel her heart pounding through the thin material of her shirt as he held her up against her chest. His arms were wrapped around her small waist and his chin rested on the top of her head. Fang felt a stabbing pain as her whole body wracked with sobs. She couldn't be… could she? Her stomach was still very flat, like it always was, but if she was right, there was a little living being; growing inside Max, not centimeters away from him.

"Mostly." Max said flatly, managing to shoot Fang a sarcastic look amongst her tears.

Fang's breaths were short and irregular; as a last attempt to keep from breaking down. He wanted to tell Max that it would all be okay, that they would get through it and they would be fine. Empty promises and sweet nothings. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to speak those lies, even if they had a chance of comforting Max. She would probably rather him be silent than to feed her more lies. They'd been lied to too much and they didn't seek comfort in them even now.

"We… we should make sure. Do you, I mean…" Fang managed. Max understood his meaning though. She was grimly sure that she was pregnant, but Fang's suggestion was logical, as per usual. She didn't know how to exactly make sure, but Dr. Martinez would. Now, they would have to tell her. After all of this, after all that they'd gone through, as if it wasn't bad enough, it just had to get worse.

"We'll go tell her. I'll tell her. Please just… just do one thing for me." Max said, trying to keep her voice from quivering. Fang looked at her with his haunted eyes.

"Anything." Fang said soberly.

"Don't… don't leave me." Max said with her voice breaking. She looked up at him, her eyes shining, brimming with emotion.

Fang swallowed, but barely managed it past the huge lump in his throat.

"I won't. I promise." he said. He gently extended his arm and wrapped it around her small waist. Normally, Max would have rebutted any help he would offer her, stubbornly insisting that she could walk perfectly fine without any help. However, nothing about this situation was normal. For once, she wouldn't mind a little help.

Fang softly urged her forward, guiding her with his hand, which was resting on the small of her back; a touch that had always sent sparks through her body. Even his touch wouldn't penetrate through the numbness she was feeling.

Max shuffled forward, staring listlessly at her battered sneakers. She had just gotten her freedom. She should have known that it was too good to last. She'd barely even tasted freedom and now it was being snatched from her by the cruel, sadistic hands of fate. She couldn't take care of a baby. She didn't even know where to start.

Slowly, Max took a step, than another. Fang stood there, quiet but resolutely helping her along, hi silence acting as more of a comfort than any murmured reassurance. His sturdy black combat boots made little noise, which was very unusual for such a heavy shoe. But he was Fang; the boy moved like a shadow.

As they walked, Max kept her gaze aimed at the ground, while Fang kept glancing at her and at the approaching log house. All that he could think about was the tiny baby that could be living inside of Max. Part him and part her. Part monster because of him. The baby would feel the constant gnawing of the wolf inside of it to, the way that it clawed at Fang from the inside every moment of his life. It was a constant fight, and after months of fighting it, he was beginning to get weary. Max would have a monster inside of her, and it was his fault for doing it to her.

He'd been told countless times, by the Flock, by Max, by Dr. Martinez, that what happened to Max and him at the School in that dark room wasn't his fault. It wasn't either of their faults. The whitecoats were responsible, Jeb being the guiltiest of them all.

But no matter how many times he heard it, it never sunk in. If it wasn't his fault, why did he feel so guilty whenever he and Max became intimate and remembered the incident in graphic detail? Had the drug they'd given him turned him into an animal, or had it released something that had been there all along? And poor Max… he knew that no words could be a sufficient apology to her. He could only watch her and agonize in silence as she suffered. There was nothing that he could do now but stand by her side through all of it now and be there when she needed it.

Right now, all that she needed was for him to be there by her side. They finally made it to the front door, and Fang gently opened it up for Max, hoping that she wouldn't be annoyed by the chivalry. She was strange that way. To her, chivalry was an insult because it somehow meant that he was implying that she was incapable of opening the door herself. He'd found that one out the hard way.

Max made no comment and mutely entered the cabin. Fang slowly walked in behind her, closing the door behind him.

Fang guided Max to Dr. Martinez's room. They needed to make sure that she really was having a baby before telling the rest of the Flock. The rest of the Flock! What would they think?

Nudge would be happy for Max; she would adore the baby, but might worry for them in secret. Angel would know that Max and Fang would be scared out of their minds, and try to brighten the mood with happy comments. Gazzy would probably be a little wierded out. He probably couldn't see Max, the girl who kicks butt and leads them having a swollen belly then later carrying a little winged, lupine human baby of her own around. Then Iggy, he would be the worst. Fang would hate to see the boy he'd recently begun to call an ally and friend hate him to a whole new degree again. He would probably never be able to look at Max or Fang the same way again. He especially wouldn't be able to look at the baby. It would be part of the girl that he loved and part of the boy that won her heart over him. Iggy would be Fang's enemy again. Fang had never really had a guy friend before. Now he was about to lose the only one he'd ever had.

The pair reached the doorway to Dr. Martinez's room. She mostly stayed in her room, when she wasn't at work or out of the house. This was it. Fang looked at Max, his eyes revealing nothing. Max swore she saw a glint of a miserable sort of fear before it was gone again. He removed his hand from her waist; instead holding out his hand for her to grip on to. Max knew that she would have to be the one to break the news, since Fang was a man of little words and all.

Fang stood tall, firm, and with strength that Max admired and envied at the moment. Why couldn't she be as composed as he was? She took a deep, shaky breath. No, she could do better than that. She tried to draw strength from Fang, and took another deep breath. It felt almost collected, like the deep breath she would take before speaking her orders to the Flock. It sounded better. She could almost fool herself into believing that she felt better.

She grasped the brass knob of the door and turned it, then entered the door. They saw Dr. Martinez sitting on the edge of her bed, with her legs hanging off the edge. She looked lost in thought, but soon snapped out of it when she saw Max and Fang come in. She smiled warmly at them, but her cheerful expression slowly faded when she saw how morose the two bird-kids were.

"Is there something wrong? What happened?" Dr. Martinez asked in a concerned voice. Her eyes were bright and sincere.

Max steeled herself and silently prepared for what was to come. Fang squeezed her hand reassuringly. She saw from the determined expression on his face that he wasn't going anywhere. He would be right there with her the whole time.

"I've… learned something. Something important. It'll change things." Max said. She took a deep breath. She felt like breaking down, but she had to hold it together. She had to get this out. She could be strong; strong like Fang.

Dr. Martinez waited for Max to finish patiently, listening to her every word.

"I'm… we're going to…" Max's breaths were more and more uneven. She felt her emotional barriers crumbling. "I'm pregnant."

DR. Martinez stared at Max, like she didn't quite hear her correctly. Then, Max felt the tears fall. Her breaths came out in choked sobs and her ribs hurt from trying to hold them in.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Max choked out. Fang looked at Max, his heart breaking with every tear that fell from her eyes. Max. The strong girl that he'd known and loved and held on to; the girl whose memory was the only thing that kept him sane while he was suffering in the School… he'd broken her. He'd reduced her to this; and it was tearing him up inside.

Dr. Martinez wanted to fall back on the bed, but she knew that Max needed her now more than ever. She'd always been a sort of parental figure for Max, and right now, Max really needed a mom.

She stood up and strode over to Max's shaking shoulders. Fang was still holding Max's hand as Dr. Martinez embraced Max in a fierce hug, and Max let herself be enveloped in the most motherly hug that she'd ever received.

Fang saw that Max didn't really need to grip onto his hand any longer. She wouldn't be alone. She had Dr. Martinez to hold on to for the moment. Fang released her hand, and Max looked at him. His dark eyes seemed to pierce through her soul, and she understood his emotions. She nodded tersely over Dr. Martinez's shoulder.

Fang needed some time to wrap his head around this new mind-blowing, life-changing news on his own. Without a word, Fang turned around and left the two girls to console each other. He needed to get out of there. He needed air. Lots of air. He couldn't breathe. Fang's steps grew faster and faster until he was running. His combat boots sounded loud, so very booming that it made the floorboards creak. Iggy poked his head out of a doorway irritably. He'd been trying to take a nap. He'd had a lot more time on his hands since he'd let Max take up the mantle as the leader of the Flock, and he was really enjoying all of this new freedom. However, he was still in the Flock, meaning that peace and quiet was very hard to come by. The stamping of Fang's heavy combat boots against the old wood flooring was nearly deafening. That was the odd thing. Fang was _never_ loud, but Iggy knew that it was Fang running down the hall. He strained his ultra-sensitive ears even further. He heard Max's muffled sobs from Dr. Martinez's bedroom. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

Angel stepped out of her room at that moment. Her adorable face was contorted into a sad, almost pitying expression.

"Go talk to him. He really needs someone to talk to." Angel said. There was something almost pleading in her voice. Iggy was about to pester her for further details, but Angel turned around and went back to her room.

Even Angel knew that Fang was really beaten up about something. And for her to suggest that Iggy get involved in one of their lovers spats… there was something very fishy about this whole thing. And Iggy was going to get to the bottom of it.

Iggy followed the sounds of Fan's careless footsteps out the door, and, predictably, out to the thick woods. Iggy silently cursed. He was _blind_ for Pete's sake! It was difficult as it was to navigate through the house, considering that the kids left stuff in various places on the floor. It was going to be nearly impossible for him to chase Fang through this forest without whacking into at least a dozen trees.

Iggy wanted to just give up and go back into the house and enjoy the blissful silence while he still could, but Angel had said that he needed to talk to Fang, and she had implied that it was urgent. Iggy still wasn't best friends with Fang. After all, he was with the girl that Iggy was in love with, but if he needed help, then Iggy would help him. Helping Fang would be indirectly helping Max. He would do he could to help her, even though she didn't love him the way he wanted her to.

Iggy took in a deep breath, and ran at a quicker pace. He could hear Fang running through the woods, and mentally mapped where Fang was. He knew that it would be impossible to track the Fang, who walked silently, on any other day.

Iggy sprinted, and only ran into half a dozen trees before he heard Fang suddenly stop. Iggy skidded to a halt, and hoped that Fang didn't hear him and start running again, because he was pretty sure that he now had bark imbedded in his forehead after that wonderful little hike through the woods.

Iggy waited to hear something, anything from Fang. He expected growling, or shouting in Avian, or maybe even howling, which Fang hadn't done since the night of Ella's funeral. He wasn't prepared to hear breaths coming out in irregular, choked gasps. It wasn't because Fang was out of breath. A sprint like that was nothing for him.

Fang wasn't out of breath from running. He was trying to hold back sobs.

Iggy felt cold. So cold, that goose-bumps prickled on the surface of his pale skin. He'd never known Fang to cry, not once.

Iggy then heard a thump, Fang falling to his knees on the grass. His jeans were now probably going to be grass-stained, but Fang wasn't even thinking about the grass, the woods, the possibility that he was being spied on.

The only thoughts running through his mind were of Max, and the poor soul that Max was carrying inside of her. Her kid. His kid. Their baby. He was a monster. If he wasn't, the baby would cease to exist in the first place. He wouldn't have done that to Max. In his emotional turmoil, he didn't notice that his high-emotions were causing him to morph into an Eraser without the remote.

Fang clutched his face with his hands, not allowing a single tear to fall. Even alone in the woods, he still was Fang. He wouldn't cry. His stubborn refusal to let tears fall resulted in an odd sort of sobbing. He was shaking, trying to breathe, but unable to, but at the same time, he couldn't cry.

He felt sharp claws digging into his scalp; they were from his hands. He barely felt the pain, but at least he felt something. Inspired by the pain, he felt a desire to tear something to shreds. If he was going to be a monster, then he deserved to tear something to pieces like one. Fang stepped over to a tree and furiously started shredding the bark with his claws. Claws were meant for tearing flesh away, not ripping through bark, so Fang's hands were bleeding and soon filled with good sized shards of wood. Fang didn't care that he was hurting himself. It was something to feel. He needed to do something. One of his claws broke off, exposing the sensitive nerve underneath. Fang let out an involuntary yelp and the sudden, sharp pain and leapt away from the tree. He took a look at his hands and saw the dark red blood oozing out of his worn hands. He saw the pieces of wood that stuck out or were even imbedded in his skin. He looked at his claws, which were broken and chipped.

A large drop of blood fell off of one of his fingertips and seemed to fall in slow motion as it hit a blade of grass, then sunk into the earth.

If Iggy could see, he would be astonished at what Fang looked like, and a good bit frightened, and he had a good right to be. He could have never imagined anything like it before.

If Fang would have looked at himself, he wouldn't even recognize himself. At the moment, he wasn't an Eraser or an Avian-human. He was something in between. His shaggy black hair was as unruly as ever from darting through the forest. His eyes, which were usually a velvety black, were a luminescent yellow, which was really strange, since his eyes didn't change color when he was a full Eraser. Fang's claws were extended, of course, and dripping with his own blood. Fang had thick black hair creeping along the side of his face, kind of like sideburns. His ears were tapered to points, like the ears of a wolf. His muscles were larger, and denser than they were when he was an Avian human. He no longer looked slim and lean, he was more brawny.

Iggy, however, took the moment of silence between the two of them to decide on what to say. Fang opened his mouth, as if he was going to speak, revealing elongated, sharpened canines, but he quickly closed it again.

Amongst his grief, he hadn't noticed Iggy slowly approaching. Fang remained oblivious to the blind bird-kid's presence, even as Iggy cautiously approached him from behind, like he was trying to creep towards a shy deer.

Finally he stood behind Fang. He didn't have to see to know that Fang was emotionally broken from something, and it had to be awful in order to make Fang this upset. Then, Iggy did something that surprised himself more than Fang, which was saying s lot. Iggy's placed a pale hand on Fang's shoulder, in a comforting and almost brotherly way.

It sort of hit Fang all at once then, and nobody could scorn him for the tears that finally and steadily dripped down his cheeks. He hadn't cried since he was a small child; cold, hungry, terrified, alone, and dying in a dog crate. Fang was now facing more than he'd ever faced before. He'd hurt Max, and now she was going to have his baby. His, a monster with screwed up genes. The baby would curse him every moment of its life because it would be part monster too. All because of Fang. Every time he would look at the baby, he would be reminded of that. He was going to be a daddy. He didn't even know how. He wouldn't know where to start. Now, Iggy who loved Max too at one point, finally and truly accepted him. He had a brother, a family for the first time in his entire life. He'd never known how much he desperately wanted someone to call family until right now.

His chest ached with the utter force of his sobs and his odd half-morph stage slowly faded until all that was left of his Eraser self was the blood and splinters on his hands. Blood and tears fell into the grass, and the scene looked very much like a deep, depressing painting that onlookers would quickly pass by because it tore their soul to shreds.

Iggy stood behind Fang, tall and resolute, like a reverend comforting a mourner. He knew that Fang wouldn't like it, but Iggy let his pity, now more genuine than ever pour from his soul and out of his eyes. He now knew what would make Fang so anguished. He knew Max was going to have a baby.

Most of the tears were for Fang, but he cried for Max too. She was probably just as scared and upset as Fang was. Something like this didn't deserve to happen to them. It especially didn't deserve to happen to her. To some, it may have seemed selfish and a little pointless, but Iggy couldn't help but cry for himself a little too.

Max the girl that he liked, maybe even loved, was pregnant. With some other guy's baby; she didn't and would never love him the way that he wanted her too. He was trying to move on, but that wasn't an easy road to travel.

So the two heartbroken teenagers wept in the woods, where no one but the other would see their silent anguish.

XOXO

Dr. Martinez wanted to be absolutely sure that Max was pregnant before they made a plan of action. When the sun set over the mountain peaks and the crickets began their nightly serenade, DR. Martinez left a quietly stoic Iggy to watch over the younger kids while she took Max and Fang with her to the veterinary office where she worked. She noticed sadly that Iggy had found out about the baby somehow. She had no idea of what transpired over the hours when Fang and Iggy had disappeared earlier, but she assumed that Fang had, in one way or another revealed the pregnancy to Iggy. She felt terrible for him, because the mother in her noticed that Iggy had started to love Max from the moment that they'd brought her home. I must be unimaginably painful for him to see her carrying another guy's child. She gave no indication of the pity that threatened to overcome her. Pity helped no one. She would know.

Fang opened the passenger side door for Max, a gesture that Max openly ranted against in a half-hearted attempt to make her feel anything but this time-stalling sadness. He smiled at her weakly. She gave him a timid, halfhearted smile back but climbed into the backseat instead. He instantly climbed into the backseat with her, and grasped her hand when he thought no one was looking.

His reluctance to show public displays of affection was endearing and morbidly ironic since Max just might be having the baby that neither of them willingly conceived. Dr. Martinez looked through her rearview mirror as she drove them down the winding mountain roads. Max leaned her head against Fang's shoulder and he absently stoked her hair, both too exhausted to sleep.

Dr. Martinez turned her eyes back to the road when she saw the awful suffering, broken souls lying behind their eyes. She tried to think about her plan to 'sneak' them into the vet's office.

It would have been long closed at this point, so she was sure that even the lazy janitor would be home by then. She was one of the two veterinarians who worked there, so naturally she would have keys granting her full access to the property.

The van's tires crunched on the rough gravel as the van winded down the mountain. The scenery flashed by in a twilight blur as the sun's remaining light finally disappeared. Max leaned up against Fang and as her bare skin brushed against his skin, he flinched from her fevered skin.

"She's so hot." Fang murmured, the deep timbres of his voice shattering the tense silence of the van.

Dr. Martinez was very surprised to hear him say something, let alone something of that nature during the current situation. She stared in the rearview mirror.

Fang's brow was furrowed and his dark haunted eyes, which were usually so carefully guarded, were shattered, revealing the teeming emotion within. He brushed his calloused and scarred hand across her sweaty forehead and brushing her choppy bangs away from her half-lidded eyes.

Dr. Martinez instantly realized that he'd literally meant that Max was hot as in running a fever. She could have rolled her eyes at the automatic assumption. She should have known that he would have been speaking seriously; he wouldn't be the Fang that she knew if he wasn't. He would only goof off somewhat when he was around Max. He was still trying to relax, but after expecting pain or death at any moment, who could really blame him.

Her eyes welled up at the memories of Max and Fang genuinely being happy for the first time in their lives. She'd once caught them up late at night watching an old movie cassette tape on a little beat up little TV that Gazzy and Iggy had revived from the junkyard. They'd even hooked it up to an old car battery so that it would run. There was no cable, of course, considering that they didn't exactly want to be traceable by any means.

Fang and Max were sharing the couch like they always did, lying side by side and were sharing a bowl of popcorn. Loose kernels of popcorn littered the floor with the precision of land mines. The blue light from the TV lit up the scene with a low blue light. Max and Fang's hands brushed against each other repeatedly as they reached for handfuls of popcorn almost in unison. They would look almost exactly like normal teenagers doing a normal teenage thing if it wasn't for their wings splayed loosely out of the slits in their lose t-shirts. Both of their hands scraped the bottom of the bowl for one last handful. Max said something unintelligible and Fang looked at her for a moment before a small, crooked smile appeared.

The both presented a hand over the bowl and thumb wrestled over the last bit of popcorn. Max won and Fang scowled as Max triumphantly scooped up the last handful. A playful glint appeared in Fang's dark eyes and before Max could react quick enough. He began to tickle her. Max bit her lip to keep her shrieks of outrage quiet, but a muffled version could still be heard. Max toppled off the couch. Fang took this to his advantage and swiped some popcorn from her palm. He popped it into his mouth and looked down to the ground at Max. She scowled at him and murmured something in Avian, probably some explicates that he had yet to learn in English. He grinned widely at her.

Her scowl softened almost to the brink of nonexistence at his rare full on grin. She pulled herself back onto the couch next to him. Max laid her hand flat on the couch. Fang looked at her, his wide smile adding to a private, indiscernible sort of expression and looked into Max's eyes. Max looked right back into his eyes, and something seemed to spark between the two of them. Fang slowly, almost cautiously moved his hand placed it on top of hers. A small smile crossed Max's lips and she leaned over and snuggled up against Fang, her head resting on his hard shoulder. Fang softy kissed the top of her head.

They were like two teenagers, almost normal even. Most teenagers wouldn't understand the complicated but powerful attraction between the two of them. And of course, normal teenagers didn't have enormous wings protruding from their backs either.

However, for the moment, Max and Fang were two teenage kids in love, with all complications forgotten. They were happy.

Dr. Martinez didn't want to end that between them, she'd never seen the two so at ease. She wanted the moment to last as long as it possibly could. As quietly as she could, she turned around and left them to what they did when they thought no one was watching.

Dr. Martinez was lost in thought once again, silently diagnosing the cause of Max's sickness in a true motherly and doctoral fashion. She quickly ruled out the flu and any other human sickness because she'd read the scientific files that Jeb had supposedly 'obtained' from the school when he'd originally bought Max. She and all the other bird kids were specifically designed to be immune to all human illnesses. She could be under too much stress and that was what was making her so ill. It could also be a form of morning sickness, because it was actually quite common for women to have morning sickness in the evening instead of the morning.

Suddenly, Max spoke in a wavering voice that sounded so foreign coming from her mouth.

"Stop the car."

Dr. Martinez all but slammed on the brakes and careened to the side of the road. Max broke out of Fang's grasp and staggered out of the van and stumbled towards the forest off the side of the road.

Fang bolted after her. Dr. Martinez stared worriedly into the brush where Max and Fang disappeared.

Max didn't get too far into the thick forest. The sharp branches tore her skin like groping claws. Max stopped and keeled over next to a pine tree suffering from termites and retched into the grass. She had been too nervous and upset to eat anything before they left so undiluted bile burned her throat. Fang appeared behind her like a shadow; dark, quiet, and always by her side.

His gut wrenched painfully at the sight of her crumpled up in the grass. He had done this to her. He would never forgive himself for this. He knelt in the tall yellow-green grass and held her hair up. To her credit, she didn't cry. She had every right to, but Fang's heart clenched at her insistence to be strong.

Her mouth tasted horrible and her stomach churned sickly. Fang stroked her hair and kissed the back of her neck, he small pale hairs on the nape of her neck as soft as down feathers. He kissed the side of her neck, so soft it was more like the memory of a kiss.

"It'll be okay. We'll be okay." Fang murmured softly. The words surprised Max; she hadn't expected to hear him speak at all.

Without a word, she turned and gripped him in a fierce embrace like it was the last time she would ever see him. Though the uneasiness in her stomach didn't go away, it softened a bit. Fang held her close to him, as if his body could protect her from anything that could hurt her.

If anything can hurt her more than I already have, I'd love to know what it was. Fang thought darkly. He brusquely shoved it and similar thoughts away to the back of his mind.

After a minute or so Fang stood up and held his hand out to help Max to her feet. Max swatted his hand away.

"I can get up by myself." She said with more confidence than she felt. She stood up too quickly and a wave of nausea swept over her. She gritted her teeth and her legs quivered unsteadily. Fang's arm snaked around her waist to keep her steady. The gesture somehow seemed protective yet affectionate at the same time. The warmth of his hand on her lower back was enough to make her legs completely turn to jelly, but she didn't want to show even more weakness today. She was way past her daily limit of confusing and overwhelming emotions for the day.

"I can walk by myself, thank you." Max snapped, but they both could tell that she didn't really want him to let her go.

"Who said you couldn't?" whispered Fang, his warm breath tickling her ear. Max bit back a smile and walked forward, with Fang close by her side, where she always wanted him to be.

The night air was getting colder and colder. And Max shuddered involuntarily. They were almost to the van, but Fang shrugged off his black hoodie. Max felt like she should protest, but honestly didn't want to. She lifted her arms up like a child being dressed by their parent, and he slipped the hoodie over her small shivering frame.

She inhaled and snuggled closer to the hoodie. It smelled like him and the scent was an instant comfort. She wrapped one arm around Fang's waist and the other gently guided his head town towards hers. Their lips met in a kiss that was soft, light, and quiet, like the footstep of a dove.

Everything would be okay as long as they were together. Both of them desperately wanted to believe that. They would survive this as long as they had each other. Just hold on.

When they reached the van, Dr. Martinez was worriedly staring out into the dark woods. She looked visibly relieved to see them back in one piece, although she looked at Max with sympathy.

"I'm fine." Max assured her. "We can keep going. I think it was just all the turns in the road. It made me dizzy. Flying is a whole lot different that car riding."

Dr. Martinez nodded and continued to drive to the vet center, stealing occasional glances in the rearview mirror.

Max was now wearing Fang's black hoodie leaving him wearing a plain black t-shirt and those dark-dark wash jeans he seemed to prefer. They held hands, Fang gently squeezing her hand, and Max tightening her grip in return.

Dr. Martinez finally pulled into the back parking lot of the small local clinic. It was completely deserted, just like she knew it would be. She parked the car, unlocked the back door, and motioned for the two troubled teenagers to follow her inside.

She led them down the main hallway to the largest examination room. She couldn't believe the irony of having to test Max to see if she really was pregnant in a veterinary office. She would love to take them to a real doctor, but of course he would find her avian-blood to be strange and that would lead to way too many questions. Besides, while they were both here, she would like to take a few X-rays and a blood sample of Fang to determine if his Eraserism was reversible. That is, if he would allow her to. It might be a bad time.

Max sat on one of the chairs in the examination room and Fang sat next to her. They were both rattled by the experience of being in this place. The smell reminded them of the School and the park and of all the horrible things that had been done to them by the whitecoats. The whole atmosphere wasn't as coldly sterile as the rooms at the school or the experimental rooms of the park were, but it still had the whitecoat-feel to it that made them very uneasy. Dr. Martinez prepared to take Max's blood test and was explaining the procedure to them in order to fill the tense silence.

"I'm going to be taking a blood test, which will only require a little blood, but it's a guaranteed way to know if you're really… expecting." Dr. Martinez tried not to choke on the last word. "We used this method on animals, but people use it all the time too. Since there aren't exactly any other people here, I can get the test done in about an hour."

Max nodded mutely, her hand still clenching Fang's like a lifeline. Both their hands were cold and clammy. Their hearts raced with nerves and adrenaline pulsed through their systems, not only for the test but for dealing with all the memories of the whitecoats tortures at once.

Dr. Martinez brought the needle over along with the disinfectant. Max held out her arm like a professional, and sadly, in a way, she was.

Dr. Martinez watched the two teenagers who were obviously scared but trying to put on a brave façade. She wiped of the surface of Max's elbow with the disinfectant and slid the needle expertly into Max's arm. Max didn't even wince as the sharp metal pierced her skin. The small container above the needle filled with ruby liquid. Fang gripped the arm of the chair with his free hand until his knuckles turned a ghastly white. He hated seeing this happen to Max and just sitting still while doing nothing. He hated the smell of this place and he hated the memories it brought. He hated the reason that they were there and he hated that it was his fault.

Of course, it wasn't his fault, but nevertheless, Fang blamed himself for the predicament, as if he could have resisted the powerful drug that the whitecoats had injected both him and Max with. No one could have resisted it.

Dr. Martinez finished drawing blood and quickly put a band aid over the small hole in her arm where the needle event in. She tried to ignore the many other tiny white scars that covered the interior of her arm from countless other injections and blood samples.

"Okay, this'll take a while, so you guys can go out into the waiting room if you want. There's a couch there. It's more comfortable. I'll come and find you when the test is done." Dr. Martinez said. She gave them a quick smile as she disappeared into a room filled with all kinds of odd machines.

Max studied the band aid on her arm quietly. It was covered with little yellow smiley faces.

"I think I'm going to keep your jacket." Max said quietly. Fang looked at her, his black eyes meeting her golden brown ones. "I like it too much to give it back."

"You should keep it. It looks better on you. I like seeing you wearing my clothes." Fang said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Just as long as you don't start wearing my clothes, I think it'll be okay." Max said, returning his tight lipped half-smile with one of her own. Fang's posture relaxed by a fraction of a degree. He chuckled, a deep sound that reverberated through the room.

Max's heart fluttered unexpectedly at the sound.

"Come on, a couch sounds really great right now, cause these stiff little things aren't cutting it." She replied, standing up and pulling him to his feet, leading him down the hall by his hand. His smile relaxed and expanded the slightest bit.

Max plopped down on the large leather couch in the waiting room. It was worn from common use, but it made it all the more comfortable and a bit homelike... Nothing like they would have in the school. The waiting room may have smelled like cleaners and antiseptics, but the walls were a peaceful blue and the walls were decorated with peaceful black and white photographs of local mountains, waterfalls, and rivers. A black wooded coffee table displayed a variety of magazines, most displaying various animals on the cover. Several other squishy Lazy Boy type chairs were strategically placed around the room. There was even a small fireplace near the corner of the room. It seemed more homelike in here. Except maybe a more organized home than Max or Fang was used to.

Max leaned far over until she was lying down on the couch. Fang was behind her lying between her and the soft back of the couch, his head propped up against the armrest. Max was on her side, facing away from Fang. She was desperately tired but the stress was keeping her awake. Fang probably couldn't sleep if he tried; so instead of attempting sleep or letting his thoughts drift away, he massaged Max's back, right between her wings. Max sighed in contentment and the tension seemed to slowly drift away. Fang's jacket smelled wonderfully like him and he was close to her and the massage he was giving her back was excellent.

"Fang" Max murmured, sleep now approaching her like an incoming train.

"Yeah?" He said softly.

"Promise to never leave me, okay? No matter what happens?" Max asked softly, he couldn't read her expression because she was facing the other way, but her voice actually sounded a little strained, as if that was bothering her.

"I'll never leave you. I promise."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what."

It was quiet for a moment, and Fang was rubbing gentle circles lower and lower down her spine, careful to stay between her wings.

"Fang?" Max murmered, even more quietly this time.

"Yeah, Max?" Fang replied.

Max was quiet for a moment. He was almost positive that she had finally fallen asleep. At least one of them could benefit from some sleep.

"If I really am… gonna have a baby, I wouldn't have picked anyone else but you to be the daddy." Max said softly.

His heart nearly stopped beating in his chest and his throat seized up, like there was something preventing him from breathing or swallowing.

He couldn't have said anything if he had found the proper words to describe what he felt at that moment. He'd never loved something so much in his whole life. He loved her more than he could ever have believed to be possible.

He gently pulled her closer to him until she was up against his chest. She could feel his ultra-fast heart beat through his shirt and the sound was more comforting that anything she'd ever known. Her head was nestled against his chest and his chin rested above her head. He kissed the top of her head, stunningly at a loss for words when he actually wanted to use them.

They were frozen in time, and neither one wanted the moment to end. It was timeless in the room. There was a clock, but neither one glanced at it. Besides, they hadn't exactly learned how to read an old fashioned round clock quite yet. Time didn't matter. The moment was measured in the steady rising and falling of the other's chest, the rapid beating of the other's heart, and the feeling that their hearts were about to burst at any given time because they loved the other person so much.

It could have been seconds, minutes, or hours and they would not have known the difference. But when Dr. Martinez walked into the room, the time spent together wasn't long enough. Fang looked up at her and sat up, realizing that Max was still asleep. He hated to wake her, she looked peaceful for the first time really all day, but this was news that they had to hear; now and together.

Fang gently shook her awake and Max's eyes didn't open, but she mumbled,

"No, Fang stay."

He wanted to. He really did. He could lie there with Max forever. But reality was about to come flooding in and he had to be ready to keep his head afloat, or they'd both drown.

"Max. You have to wake up. The test is done." Fang said in low voice. Max's eyes fluttered open, instantly filling with worry. She sat up, adrenaline and pure terror waking her up faster than coffee ever could.

Dr. Martinez looked at the poor teenagers sitting in the waiting room of a veterinary office in the middle of the night, waiting for the result of a test that would drastically change their lives forever.

The look in Max's eyes reminded her of the poor young girls begging in front of stores or supermarkets that she saw in the city when shopping. Drug and food hungry, homeless, wearing ragged clothing, no father, no family, and no hope.

Fang has a look in his eyes that she'd seen in men much older than he was, old men who were already tired and weary of the world.

They were fifteen, for God's sake. They shouldn't have to go through this. They were the people who least deserved this. When she was nervous, she tended to develop a Nudge-like tendency to babble.

"Well, in many cases, I'd have to check for sexually transmitted diseases and such, because they are a very real problem and are very serious, and even deadly." Dr. Martinez said quickly. Max turned her gaze to the floor, and Fang reached over and took her hand again, reminding her that he would be there, no matter what. Max squeezed back feebly.

Dr. Martinez immediately realized that she'd only worried them even more.

"Don't worry though! You definitely don't have any diseases. Back at the, um, the park, I had to check for those sort of things, especially Fang, since we didn't know exactly what his background back at the place Jeb bought him from. It was all just precautionary. But you guys were clean." Dr. Martinez amended.

Fang's eyes actually widened and did something that Max had never seen him do before. His cheeks actually flushed with embarrassment. Max chuckled softly and quickly kissed Fang on the cheek. His dark eyes darted over to look at her. The edge of his mouth quirked upwards; physically unable to form anything closer to a smile.

Dr. Martinez could have smacked herself in the forehead. Her prattling was making everything worse.

"So, the results came back." Dr. Martinez started, clearing her throat. She had to sound like an adult here. They needed one.

Max and Fang glanced at each other solemnly; hands intertwined, and looked intently at Dr. Martinez.

"Positive. The test was positive." Dr. Martinez said in the steadiest voice she could muster.

Max felt so many emotions all at once. it was hard to decipher them all. Fear being the dominant emotion felt, but sadness, self-loathing, helplessness, and guilt also tore heart heart to shreds. There must have been something else she could have done, something so that it wouldn't have come to this. She couldn't be a mom, she didn't know how. She never really had one except for maybe Dr. Martinez, but it wasn't exactly the same thing. She was going to have a baby. For sure. What was she going to do?

Fang felt a sort of second wave of realization hit him at that moment. It was official then; medically confirmed. He was going to be a dad. A huge wave of guilt engulfs him, the same thought of _It's all my fault_ repeating itself like a mantra inside of his head. His hand began to shake uncontrollably. He quickly seized the quivering hand with his other hand, which halted the shuddering for a moment before spreading to both arms. He silently cursed himself. Weak, weak, weak he was weak. How could he stand here and shudder like he was freezing to death when Max needed him to be strong now. There was absolutely nothing he could do now for her except be there for her. He couldn't undo the past, but he'd never felt so useless or filthy in his entire life.

Max walked dazedly towards him, and he immediately pulled her tightly against his body. Max couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She wasn't ready to be a mom! She didn't even make the baby with Fang, well, not by her own free will. He hadn't either. Jeb, who was still out there somewhere, would stop at nothing to get her now that she was going to have a baby. It's like Jeb was still controlling her life, even though she was thousands of miles away from the park. She sobbed into the soft dark material of Fang's shirt.

"It's okay, sweetheart. We'll be fine. It'll all be okay. I promise." Fang said softly. He looked down at her shuddering form clutching onto him. She was going to have their baby. She wasn't ready for this. He definitely wasn't. The baby would be a monster, a monster just like him. Only a monster could have let something like this happen to Max.

To his horror, a few tears leaked down from his eyes and dripped into Max's golden brown hair. Max pretended not to feel the hot droplets splash against her scalp.

"I meant what I said. About you." Max managed softly. Fang almost didn't believe her. But he knew that she was sincere. That meant much more to him than she could have ever known.

"Max?" Fang said softly.

She looked up at him through red-rimmed eyes. "Yeah?" she replied, sniffling.

"There couldn't be a better mom for our baby than you. You'll be the best." Fang finally found his words.

"How do you know?" Max asked.

"You're Maximum Ride. You are the most stubborn and smart and amazing person I know. You lead the Flock, like a mom. You have to be a good mom, because how can someone as wonderful as you not be?" Fang said.

Max could only hold on to him. He didn't know a whole lot of words in English, but he sure knew what to say. It was quiet for a moment.

"I'm not ready for this." Max whispered, her voice breathy and barely audible.

"Me neither." Fang said, his voice cracking.

"We'll make it through. I'll be here with you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

**I had to splice this in half because of the length. Ill finish up the last half. I just couldn't get this darn chapter to sound right! I re-wrote it so many times, then edited it, then re-wrote it again… I feel horribly, horribly guilty for posting so late, but I swear that the other chapter is well on its way to completion and the waiting period between these chapters won't be long. Reviews would be immensely appreciated, as I would LOVE to know how this chapter sounds, since I'm losing my few hours of sleep to write. :P ah, well. Writing first! School tomorrow takes the backseat! **


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